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bloededhoine · 4 years ago

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world building cause twn doesn't part 12: the hen ichaer

i realize i've been mentioning the hen ichaer without really explaining it, and for that i apologize. but without further ado, let's go

colour code cause i fucking love colour codes - already happened/introduced, probably s2, important background info, stuff that might be in the prequel, extras

series masterpost

general

the hen ichaer is basically a magical gene that originated with the elven sorceress, scholar, and princess, lara dorren aep shiadhal

it can lie dormant or inactive for generations, but when someone is an activated carrier of the gene, they are called a source

sources have an insane capability for magic, it's so intense that without instruction they are a huge danger to themselves and/or others. remember pavetta's betrothal feast? hurricanes should not happen indoors

same thing with ciri's sonic scream.

obviously, the hen ichaer is highly weaponize-able, but it's difficult to put this into theory since the magic is so strong that it can easily kill the person who carries it

most important is that the hen ichaer can open ard gaeth, the gates between worlds. you may remember that the witcher is a multiverse, and the continent is just one of countless worlds

aen elle

the aen elle, elves who live in another world called tir ná lia, controlled at least one gate that they used to get slaves from other worlds

however, this was before the hen ichaer was seriously studied. unicorns are also capable of opening ard gaeth, and were present in tir ná lia, so the aen elle would kidnap them to be used as their world-hopping-genocide key. yeah, the aen elle are seriously fucked

the king of the aen elle was named auberon muircetach, and he was very well known for his wars with the unicorns, who weren't too keen on being enslaved for the purpose of conquering other worlds

the hen ichaer came into play when auberon noticed that his daughter, lara dorren, had pretty intense magical abilities. like, ard gaeth opening abilities.

auberon, lara, and a few other elves began studying the gene and trying to figure out how it works and how to use it.

through this study is how we got the title aen saevherne, which is used to distinguish an elven mage with extensive knowledge of history, science, magic, and, most importantly, the elder blood.

both lara and auberon were aen saevherne, as was lara's husband-to-be, avallac'h, and avallac'h's foster son, caranthir ar-feiniel

ithlinne's prophecy

ithlinne aegli aep aevenien was an elven prophet known for her incredibly dark prophecies that she delivered at totally random times. how dark were they? ithlinne's prophecies were almost exclusively about the death of all humanity and/or the end of the world. she was fun at parties.

anyway, when we talk about ithlinne we really only mean one specific prophecy, aen ithlinnespeath. to be confusing it's usually referred to as ithlinne's prophecy

here's the prophecy itself:

Verily I say unto you, the era of the sword and axe is nigh, the era of the wolf's blizzard. The Time of the White Chill and the White Light is nigh, the Time of Madness and the Time of Contempt: Tedd Deireádh, the Time of End. The world will die amidst frost and be reborn with the new sun. It will be reborn of Elder Blood, of Hen Ichaer, of the seed that has been sown. A seed which will not sprout but burst into flame. Ess'tuath esse! Thus it shall be! Watch for the signs! What signs these shall be, I say unto you: first the earth will flow with the blood of Aen Seidhe, the Blood of Elves...

what does that mean? well, the white chill (aka the white frost) is a massive ice age that has been approaching the continent for years. don't believe me? the white frost has destroyed countless worlds in the past, and it literally cannot be stopped. the only way to save the world is by the power of the hen ichaer.

here's a perfectly frightening visual of the white frost

ithlinne didn't elaborate on the how, but we now know that the only to survive the white frost is by finding a new world and massively evacuating the continent through ard gaeth, which can only be opened by the power of the hen ichaer.

genetics

clearly, the hen ichaer is important enough to literally save, or end, the world, but the aen elle did a famously terrible job of studying it. like, you'd think they'd be good at that, but no. to their credit, it is a bit complicated

first, there are multiple types of elder blood genes, the main gene, the latent gene, and the activator gene. to actually show the powers of the hen ichaer, someone would need to either have one latent and one activator, or the main gene.

let's go back to secondary school biology for a second, remember punnet squares? these fuckers

the letters in a punnet square represent a genotype, or the two alleles that are inherited from the parents. phenotypes, on the other hand, are what you see on the outside. for example, a genotype would be Aa but a phenotype would be brown eyes.

while the main gene is a simple dominant allele (shown by a capital letter on a punnet square), both the latent and activator genes are semi-dominant, meaning that when they meet they create a new phenotype: the innate magical ability that makes you a source.

it gets a little less scientific here so bear with me; this new phenotype is so powerful that it sometimes creates a whole new genotype. so instead of having one activator gene and one latent gene, the two would merge and you'd be left with only one (very powerful) main gene. this is the only single gene that actually has magic and it's a dominant gene, so you only need to have one to have the power.

but, the latent and activator genes don't always combine. you still have the full powers when they stay separate, but it is then less likely to pass the hen ichaer your children.

complicated? very much so. but in practice it's a lot easier.

for simplicity's sake i'll call the activator gene g/a, latent gene g/L, main gene g/m and a regular nonmutated gene g/r. to be a source, the genes you inherit would be g/a g/L, but they may combine to be just g/m. your average person would be g/r g/r and a carrier would be either g/a g/r or g/L g/r.

clearly, this makes tracking it pretty messy, since generations of people can be carriers without having a single source

tracking the hen ichaer

for now, let's do what those elven sages couldn't and track then hen ichaer, starting with lara dorren

eventually, lara met an exceptionally talented human mage, cregennan of lod, and they were lab partners (oh my god they were lab partners) in the study of the hen ichaer.

for all the studying, lara and cregennan's own genes have always been something of a mystery. elven mages don't tend to have any issues with using themselves as lab rats, so it's entirely possible that lara and cregennan, knowingly or not, mutated their own genes in their research.

ultimately, it doesn't matter what lara and cregennan's genes originally were. by some happy little accident, the two eventually ended up with at least one activator gene and at least one latent gene between them.

later, when lara and cregennan made their own happy little accident, riannon, she inherited one of each gene (g/a g/L), making her a source. however, riannon's genes did not combine as the elves expected, which made her a little harder to study.

riannon eventually met king goidemar of temeria (g/r g/r), and they had two children named fiona and amavet. i'll start with fiona, who the aen elle managed to figure out had the latent gene, making her g/L r

fiona ended up having a baby with king coram II of cintra (g/r g/r), they named him corbett, and he inherited fiona's g/L and one of coram's g/r.

the aen elle lost track of the hen ichaer when they studied riannon's other kid amavet. see, amavet was kind of a whore. he had twins, muriel and crispin, with the married countess anna kameny. obviously, these children weren't legitimate, and when the angry count kameny murdered amavet a few months later, he was officially childless

the elves did, however, manage to figure out that amavet had riannon's g/a gene and goidemar's g/r gene. anna kameny was just g/r g/r, and crispin ended up being g/r g/r as well. destiny does favour the hen ichaer, but sometimes it's just not meant to be. muriel, on the other hand, did inherit her father's activator gene and was g/a g/r.

let's hop back to corbett, fiona and coram's g/L g/r son. he and princess elen of kaedwen (g/r g/r) had a son, dagorad, who got corbett's latent gene and one of elen's regular ones, meaning he was g/L g/r

muriel married robert of garramore (g/r g/r), and their daughter adalia, the dramatically posed lady right there, had the same genetic combination as her mother, g/a g/r

this is where it gets even weirder

the lovely adalia married dagorad. her second cousin. they shared riannon as their great grandmother. feel better in the fact that it was not intentional, adalia's mother, muriel, was not officially riannon's granddaughter. no one would have even known, but adalia's g/a met up with dagorad's g/L in their daughter, calanthe

for the first time since riannon, the hen ichaer was back, and calanthe's parents genes combined to give her g/m g/r

while it took generations of destiny and accidental incest to make the hen ichaer happen again, now that calanthe had the main gene there was a 50% chance she would pass it to her child, which, of course, she did

calanthe and her husband roegner (g/r g/r) had pavetta, who inherited the g/m from her mother. no one knew about this until pavetta literally created a source hurricane, and was already pregnant

pavetta and duny's (g/r g/r) daughter, ciri, inherited the main gene from her mother and was a source.

sources

it's important to note that a source is not necessarily an incredibly powerful sorcerer, merely a person who has the genetic predisposition required to channel very intense magic

sources, like anyone else, can be bad students, allergic to potions, or just generally averse to magic on all levels except heredity. there is also no way to guarantee that even the most willing source will be good at using magic, in fact it's far more common that they will be really really bad at it. sources are extra susceptible to the chaotic state of magic in the world, and many end up pretty seriously harmed by it.

magical talent tends to make itself known in very emotional situations, like the death of a parent or a war. the same applies for sources, but they have an extra rule: their full powers are off limits until they lose their virginities

now, netflix has not mentioned that rule to be true or false, but i'm going to think of it as strictly book/game/etc canon, because ciri is 10 years old when netflix shows her using her source powers for the first time

the virginity rule makes things even more complicated, as customs about premarital sex are pretty strict in the witcher world (well, among nobility), and the dudes didn't seem to have fast reflexes. what i'm saying is that getting pregnant the first time you had sex was not uncommon. sources couldn't even use, and likely weren't aware of, their powers until they were already passing them on to another generation.

and even still, there is no guarantee that someone who is a source will ever actually show their powers. calanthe had the genetics, but she wasn't a mage. what happened? we don't really know. after calanthe married, cintra was pretty peaceful; there were no invasions or massive upheavals that could put enough stress on her to show her powers. plus, her parents didn't know she had any magical powers, so they didn't give her the training that would develop them, and she was a very level headed person who would likely be unaffected by many of the things that would make another source lose their shit.

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myrskytuuli · 5 years ago

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Please share the receipts about Harry Potter being a colonial fantasy! Reading stuff like that is so interesting 🙈 have a good day

I’m glad you both asked!

This argument will be divided into threemain parts. The subject of magical creatures in the wizarding world, thesubject of humans other than English wizards, and the subject of Harry’scharacterization in the novels. But before I can discuss the novels andRowling’s (probably mostly unintentional) colonial fantasies, we must look atthe background information of those colonial fantasies. To do that, I willoutline and explain certain elements of the 1800-century cultural and politicalsituation, reflected in the literature of the time. (See! This is why you don’tdismiss history as the unnecessary boring subject Rowling!!!!)

(In this text, I use the word wizard akin tothe universal man, as in mankind. I do this, because Rowling herself does this,referring to unisex groups of witches and wizards as “wizards”.)

Racial thinking in the British empire was heavily influenced by pseudo-scientific theories like phrenology and race classification theory. Humanist sciences like sociology were heavily influenced by “hard sciences” and there was a strong demand to find a scientific justification for the existence of the empire. This justification came with race classification, that was divided into two different equally racist branches of theory. The idea that different human races were actually subspecies inside the human main species, and that these subspecies had evolved to fulfill different functions and behave in different ways. Roughly divided, the Anglo-Saxon subspecies had evolved into a rational thinker and a natural leader, the Asian subspecies into servile and effeminate role, and African subspecies into manual labourer. Now, in order for society to live in perfect harmony, that society has to be built in a way that each human species can follow their natural predilections and follow their species-natural behaviour.

The other branch of scientific sociology argued that all humans had the same potential for civilization, but that all human societies were also in different evolutionary stages. Human societies were seen to evolve in a neat line, from promiscuity-matriarchy-transitional patriarchy-patriarchy. All human societies therefore started from hunter-gatherer tribes and would eventually turn into enlightened British style modern societies. As the British already had reached the top of the societal evolution, it was also their right and burden to protect the societies that had not yet reached this top evolutionary form. It is very important to remember that while the British empire was filled with straight up hateful and vile racists that saw genocide as a fun past-time, there were equally many people who believed the science of the time and condemned the mistreatment of the empire’s subjects believing that the empire was in truth necessary in order to help their less-evolved human compatriots.

Another important note to make about the imperial mindset is how these rational leaders were created; in boarding schools. The future leaders of the empire were all sent to a boarding school, somewhere around the age of 10. These schools, rampant with bullying, pressure and straight up rape, were not places that a young boy was supposed to become a scholar or an athlete; his job was to make connections and learn to become charismatic. Doing too well in your subjects was not desirable, as a book-worm is not what the empire needed. Being good at sports was good, but not if you had to sacrifice time to practice too much. Sports and sciences were there to support the student’s growth into a proper English gentleman, not as an educational goal themselves. Debating, public speaking, and aggressive confidence were much more important skills to master for the future overseer of a colony. Your job as a student in, for example Eton, was to network and grow a stiff upper lip. A terrible educational system for sure, which caused damage to the British psyche that people today are still trying to understand; with Boarding School Syndrome and its consequences important when trying to understand the problems in British politics today

How do these facts then relate to Harry Potter? Well, let’s start working our way through from magical creatures. In the Harry Potter universe, the world is filled with creatures with human-sentience that however do not, at least in Britain, mix with the dominant human population. We know that there are house-elves, working as servants, goblins, working as bankers, centaurs, keeping away in their forest, as do merfolk in their lake. Dwarves were employed as cupids (entertainers) in Hogwarts by Lockhart, and there are veelas that work as exotic dancers in the quidditch world cup.

At first glance, you might think that Harry Potter and Dumbledore are on the side of the creatures. Dumbledore is noted for being a great advocate for non-humans when defending their right to exist, as opposed to the more genocide-minded goons at the ministry. Voldemort is happy to employ creatures that he deems “dark” and ignore the rest. At first glance it would even look like the narrative is advocating for tolerance, and it is, but it is not advocating for equalitybetween humans and non-humans.

The centaurs and the giants have lost their native lands to humans, and have been forced to live in reservations, as most notably pointed out by Dolores Umbridge in Order of the Phoenix. “Ministry of magic permits you certain areas of land.” (p.665) At the same time, the books do not take the time to portray either the giants or the centaurs in particularly sympathetic light from the point of view of our characters and this point of view is never questioned. Centaurs are shown to be violent and even unreasonable towards any humans who would want to have contact with them. Giants are shown to be stupid and hostile, killing themselves into extinction. (Order of the Phoenix p.377) Meanwhile, the races that do mingle amongst wizards all have something to offer to humans who allow them in their society. Goblins are useful to have around because of their hold over the banking industry and their superior metal-working. House-elves are useful as domestic servants. The creatures that wizards label as “dark” are all creatures that do not have any filled role that they can perform for the benefit of humans, (vampires, hags, werewolves), segregated from the wizarding society proper, and are therefore shunned as undesirables. Veelas on the other hand are blatantly fetishized, and they are only shown in two roles in the books. Either as entertainers or as married to wizards. The narrative does not even hint that a veela might have any non-sexual role in the society. It would seem, that all the magical races have either been pushed out of the wizarding community, or they fill some niche purpose in society that the wizards find useful, and that the wizards themselves do not want to perform.This structure of society, built upon the assumption that there will always be creatures fulfilling certain roles for the society, is not questioned by any of our heroes.

Dumbledore is happy to advocate for tolerance, but not inclusion. He is happy to create a dialogue between humans and centaurs- as long as it is not humans who have to make any concessions in their relationship. Same goes for merfolk. Dumbledore advocates for their right to exists in their own segregated patches of land, and in return they will help Dumbledore. Merfolk will allow themselves and their home to be used as obstacles in the tri-wizarding tournament and the centaurs will let wizards traipse through their forest.

Inside the centaur society, we are supposed to see territorial Bane as the “bad guy” and the meek Firenze, who argues that centaurs should take sides in a human war and make defer even more to the wizards. Firenze eventually accumulates into the human society by becoming a teacher in Hogwarts, but only after he has been banished from the Centaur society. Therefore Firenze becomes completely subserviant to Dumbledore, as his own people do not accept him anymore and Hogwarts is the only place he can go. He does not have the backing of his own community that could allow him to make demands towards his human peers, which makes him a good ally for Dumbledore. Firenze placed the needs of humanity above the needs of his own species and that makes him the ‘reasonable’ centaur.

The same happens with goblins. Their prioritization of their own people is at every turn equated with them being unpleasant, unreasonable, and impossible to work with, and when Harry Potter shows the bare minimum of respect- acknowledging that goblins have their own legal system that defines ownership of an object differently than a human would, it is framed as the greatest height of progressiveness that anyone could ever show towards a goblin, instead of the bare minimum. Never-mind the fact that the books explicitly mention that goblins are denied the use of a wand by the dominant human government, and actively have to fight for the rights they have even now, which is neither an interest nor a concern to any of our heroes.

Note of interest is also that most non-humans taking action against the status quo are antagonists. There are no creatures in the order of the phoenix fighting against the dark lord, (Remus Lupin identifies as a human with an unfortunate condition.) but there are several under the command of Voldemort. (Order of the Phoenix p.88) The most positive attitude towards non-humans comes from the heroes who show tolerance towards non-humans, but who also do not try to reach any deeper understanding about non-human experiences in the wizarding society.

The house-elves are the most blatant piece of yikes when it comes to the issue of creatures. The enslavement of house elves is explained away as a natural order of the world. At the end the series, even the protagonist Harry Potter accepts this natural order and becomes himself a master of the house elf Kreacher (Half Blood Prince p.55). Harry’s slave-master position is accepted,because we trust Harry to treat his slaves decently, there is never anyquestion what the condition of being a slave-master can psychologically do tothe master, or that slavery as an institution is too immoral to accept, nomatter the conditions. The reader is shown that the elves are not capable oftaking care of themselves without a master by examples of Dobby and Winky, the only freed elves shown in the books. Winky, after being freed, becomes an alcoholic. (Goblet of Fire, p.564) Dobby, while enjoying freedom, would be unable to support himself without the help of benevolent Dumbledore, to whom Dobby works in the same way as the other slaves in the castle, even if he is namely free. (Goblet of Fire p.400) (Both alcoholism and “frivolity” were anti-abolitionist talking points in the southern states in the antebellum era). Theimplication is that some races are simply born subservient, and the morally decent thing to do is to keep them in slavery but treat them kindly.

Hermione Granger, who in the books argues that slavery as an institution is by itself something that cannot be accepted, is presented with her views as ridiculous and misguided. On the other hand, those who argue for the institution of slavery appear as rational and reasonable. There is no way for anyone to think of her S.P.E.W badges as anything but childish and stupid, a phase for Hermione to grow out of. In Chamber of Secrets, the readers do see Harry freeing the house elf Dobby, after Dobby has personally helped Harry. However, the implication is that Dobby suffered from an unfit master, not from the slavery itself, and that his freedom came as boon after he had done a personal favour to Harry Potter. In the world of Harry Potter, slaves are happy to be slaves, as long as their masters are decent masters.

But if you stop and think of all this, it should not be rationally possible for a society like this to exist. If the giants truly are so stupid and violent that they are accidentally killing themselves to extinction, they should also not be sentient enough for humans to breed (and even create emotional bonds, as Hagrid’s family) with them. If these creatures have managed to create a society, it should not be possible for them to be unable to “understand complicated matters” or “kill anyone who uses too big words” (Order of the phoenix, 429).

Same with the centaurs. Segregating an entire culture to a small reservation is not pretty, and it does not happen peacefully. Still there is never any indication that the wizards were actively doing anything to keep the centaurs in their reservation. Even though, overtly and less-overtly violent actions and policies are in reality always working to keep indigenous populations at check. No creature segregated in their little reservation wants to leave that reservation, choosing to rather waste away amongst their own kind than pushing for their species to either be integrated into the wizarding world, or gaining more land from the wizards. And assuming that the centaur population is too small and weak to do anything but accept their reservation, the heroes do not see anything wrong with this arrangement either. The mythical tale of the noble savage who quietly goes into the good night is real in the wizarding world.

Those creatures who do live and work alongside wizards are equally content with their narrow roles. No goblin wants to work anywhere else expect the bank, no house-elf wants to open a business, no veela wants to study in Hogwarts. Half-breeds might be allowed in, if the headmaster is eccentric enough, and as long as they are able to “pass” as humans. The fact that their creature parents would never have that change is not even acknowledged as the tragedy that it is. It is easy for the heroes to appear as progressive, when the only thing the creatures want is to be allowed to exist in their pre-ordained roles and be treated with the most basic decency.

We don’t know what Dumbledore’s answer would be if a young goblin wanted to apply as a student at Hogwarts. We don’t know what any of our heroes’ reactions would have been, if the centaurs demanded compensations for Hogwarts’ rights to use the Forbidden Forest. Or if Dobby would have started campaigning alongside Hermione for abolition. We don’t know, because the wizarding world is in perfect harmony, as long as the creatures are allowed to exist peacefully in their roles, without corrupt, dark wizards abusing them needlessly.

What about humans then. Not all humans are created equal either. We don’t really see about the state of the wizarding world outside of Britain, but we are given the implication that the political situation in Britain is equal to the fate of the world. Harry Potter is not fighting for a political cause in UK, he is saving the world. British politics are world politics. The international wizards we do see, are also almost as much stereotyped as the creatures are. The French boys and girls from Beauxabatons are vain and frilly, while the girls and boys from Durmstrang are brutish and coarse. And in the European stage, UK and France gets their own wizarding population, while the eastern Europe is apparently lumped together in a way that makes you suspect that the Soviet Union never fell in the magical world. (considering when Rowling was creating these stories, that is not impossible. Rowling started writing Philosopher’s stone a year before the Soviet Union was dissolved). In the world politics, these three are the only ones important enough to be included in the tri-wizarding tournament, (tournament that the British dominate easily), and therefore clearly hold the political cards of magical Europe. What we do know is that British wizards have no trouble finding work overseas, while we do not see any foreigners living or working in the British wizarding world. Britain’s importance as the centre stage of magical world politics is simply a given fact of the world.

(Note that I have decided to omit all nonsense that Rowling has added to Pottermore in her effort to world-build but rest assured that it makes the situation simply much much worse.)

There is also the clean divide between muggles and wizards. The wizards once again are honour-bound from their superior position to protect the muggles. The books make it clear that it was not for the safety of the wizards that the worlds were divided. It was simply that muggles in their ignorance kept burning other muggles during the witch-hunting times. The idea that muggles, if confronted with an existential threat like the death-eaters and their genocidal tendencies, were to win the fight, is not even floated as an idea. The moral implications ofkeeping the muggle world ignorant about a part of UK population that wants to kill them, and has succeeded in several terrorist attacks against the commonpopulation, is not discussed at all. The wizards simply have the right to sacrifice the lives of muggles in exchange of keeping their society hidden from the “common folk”. The wizards who do show any interest in muggles, do it in the most condescending way possible. Arthur Weasley, who has spent years working in the ministry of muggle-affairs, cannot pronounce the word electricity or know what a rubber duck is. How exactly does someone work for muggle-affairs if one is completely ignorant of said affairs? Why are muggleborn’s not automatically working for muggle-affairs? How is it, that muggleborns all simply choose to embrace the wizarding culture without there being any underground muggleborn culture running counter the pureblood establishment? Hermione Granger wants to be seen as one of the witches, not as someone whose cultural knowledge of muggles could in on itself be a strength. Rowling really wants you to believe that the British wizarding culture is naturally so desirable that no counter-cultures have born inside it, or that there ever could be any other problem expect that muggleborns are restricted from accumulating into it.

And then we come to Harry. Our hero. At first look, he appears to be the underdog fighting against the unjust establishment of the wizarding world. However, if one takes a closer look at the story, Harry Potter is not an underdog at all. In the beginning of the story, he acquires a great inheritance from his exceedingly wealthy parents. (Philosopher’s Stone p.85) In every other character exceeding wealth seems to be a negative trait, but curiously Harry’s status as an heir to a fortune is never properly addressed in relation to Harry’s moral character. Harry is also a son of esteemed and powerful magical parents, both highly regarded in the wizarding society. From his father’s side, Harry can claim a connection to an old pureblood house, giving him a claim to the pureblood wizarding establishment. Both the wealth and the bloodline inherited from the Potter family guarantees a place in the upper class of the magical society for young Harry. Even the extremely racist Draco Malfoy in the first book seems eager to make friends with Harry. (Philosopher’s Stone p.120). It is only Voldemort who has robbed him of his natural heritage and privileges and forced him into hiding with his brutish and cruel (muggle) relatives.

The story of Harry Potter is not of someone who fights for acceptance, but of someone who returns to his rightful place on top of the wizarding society. characters who do not naturally have this privilege, gain prestige by being helpful and loyal to Harry. It is a deliberate choice by Rowling to make Harry a heir to an prestigious family fighting for the rights of muggleborns and those lower than him in the wizarding societal ladder. He is the archetypical English gentleman hero, because he has both the privilege and the proper character to carry that privilege. Voldemort, Malfoy, and other “dark-siders” from the pureblood establishment have abused this privilege and are therefore unworthy of it.

Another important part of Harry’s character is that all his powers and abilities that help him champion against Voldemort are either inherited or inherent. Harry does no need to labour for his victory. His mother gives him “blood-protection”, his father and mentors give him magical items to help him on his journey, and he simply has skills that others don’t. His flying abilities making themselves known the first time he hops on a broom, and his inexplicable talent to resist the imperio-curse is never explained expect with “a strong will”. He even learns the patronus, a spell that for adult characters is explained as a very rare and impressive talent, in a matter of days. What he is good at, he doesn’t need to work for, and what he is not good at, he doesn’t need to improve on. If there is something he doesn’t have the innate talent for, he has friends who will do it for him. When Snape claimed that all of Harry’s successes were due to luck and more talented friends…he wasn’t wrong. And the kicker is, that that’s the point. Harry’s main strength is the fact that he is good at networking and having a brave heart. That is the ideal that thousands of young Englishmen tried to mould themselves into during the imperial days. Harry doesn’t need to be the “smartest wizard of his age”, he needs to be charismatic enough that others will follow him into the battle. He doesn’t need to be shrewd, or ambitious, or smart, or even kind, he needs to know how to apply his inheritance correctly and how to manage those in the lower position than him, in order to return the status quo of the wizarding world to what it was before Voldemort.

When both Harry’s already existing place in the magical society, and the question of how the books treat the magical creatures are considered, the main conflict in the book seems to be reduced to an inner struggle between the higher classes of wizarding society. Voldemort and the death eaters are evil because they misuse their power over the lower classes, and because they discriminate against other witches and wizards. Therefore, it is the duty of Dumbledore and Harry Potter to return the wizarding world to its former and rightful order. The narrative supports the idea that now that the proper people, the naturally noble-minded heroes, are once again in power all the social issues of the wizarding world will disappear. Those on the top of the social pyramid will treat those under them with tolerance, and those at the base of the pyramid will stick to their place.In other words, the world of Harry Potter has fulfilled the colonialist fantasy of the British empire, where everybody has their place in society, and the inferior races truly are without ambitions or nuances.

The wizarding world has the structures that the British empire had, but none of the problems that come with those structures. In the end, the wizarding world returns to peace. “all was well.” The house-elves are given laws that punishes a master that mistreats their slave. The goblins continue in their segregation. The centaurs and merfolk are given a promise of no genocide. The British muggleborns are promised a place in the dominant society, as long as they perfectly emulate their pureblood peers and don’t bring muggle culture (or values) with them. The superiority of British wizardingkind has been proven, and they benevolently reside over their less evolved subjects, making sure that they are allowed to fulfill their roles in the society, as they naturally desire, in peace. There are no troublesome creature-rights activists causing havoc on streets. There are no muggleborns who would wish to side with muggles against the wizards. There is no empire, there is only the natural order of things.

Bibliography

https://www.academia.edu/26667941/Crowning_the_King_Harry_Potter_and_the_Construction_of_Authority

https://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/ojs/index.php/tlg/article/view/162/161

https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/24083/H_and_F_book4print_final.pdf;sequence=1

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-phrenology-2795251

https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-victorians-empire-and-race

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Bachofen

https://kenanmalik.com/2014/05/15/the-forgotten-roots-of-the-first-world-war/

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5478

https://www.naturepl.com/stock-photo-tableau-to-accompany-professor-agassiz-opening-sketch-on-the-image01388344.html

https://until-darwin.blogspot.com/2012/09/darwin-slavery-species-question.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/race-human/Scientific-classifications-of-race

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/11/hitchens200811

https://newrepublic.com/article/151232/britains-boarding-school-problem

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/09/boarding-schools-bad-leaders-politicians-bullies-bumblers

https://anotherwasteland.blogspot.com/2008/05/robinson-crusoe-colonialism-and.html

https://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/10/17/colonialism-in-victorian-literature/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3141t.html

#harry potter #Anonymous #long post #literary analysis #ask and you shall receive much more than you ever wanted

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palidoozy-art · 3 years ago

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The more I think about your recent post about the changes you made to Strahd, the more I wonder about those changes you made to the others mentioned (Rahadin, Van Richten, Ireena, etc). I'd absolutely love to hear what adjustments you made as you already shared some stellar ideas already. Like the Tome? -Chef kiss- Amazing.

Oh mannn I do love talking about my campaign. I changed a lot with them. Again, weirdly enough, I think Strahd wound up being the most like his original incarnation. I could talk forever about the changes I made so I'll try to be brief haha. IT STILL WON'T BE BRIEF.

Obvious CoS spoilers below

IREENA - I thought it was weird that the picture they gave her makes her look like such a badass, and then the module just kind of writes her as a damsel in distress to either get kidnapped or pulled into water or dumped somewhere. To me, she's like, the second most important character in CoS -- and the book literally gives you less direction to roleplay her than her brother. Furthermore, reading her ending actually legit made me mad.

So I said fuck all that. Ireena in my game was a 19-year old girl who grew and developed over the course of the campaign. Several of my players actually said they thought of her as "the main character," just because she experienced a lot of character growth and development, going from a sheltered meek teenager to someone who can fight and assert herself. The biggest change I made to her though was that I very specifically did not just want her to be "Tatyana with memory loss." Ireena is a unique individual who happens to be partially made out of Tatyana's soul. While she shares many similarities with Tatyana, they're separate people, and part of what Ireena has to grapple with is how to live up to that. She's in the post-campaign because of that distinction -- while Sergei offered her to join him, she declined, because she wants to experience life past her twenties. I didn't get to play it out because we were kind of rushing towards the end, but I honestly envisioned a scene where she talks to the portrait of Tatyana, apologizing to her because she knows she's being selfish remaining alive.

This also brings up a unique problem in the post campaign. If Ireena dies, she ceases to exist and may not be able to be resurrected. When her soul leaves her body, it's Tatyana's again. Ireena very much wants to live. Tatyana doesn't. A resurrection has to be made with the consent of the soul, and if Tatyana declines, Ireena's just... gone. Forever.

Related: because I wasn't sure what my players would ask, and Rahadin would absolutely know this information -- there have been 18 incarnations of Tatyana, including the original. I actually have a timeline of when they were all born and how they died. The curse manifests in that they always die or are killed before their 25th birthday. If Strahd attempts to marry them, they lose their minds and throw themselves off of the same balcony the original Tatyana jumped off of during the ceremony. Strahd can never have Tatyana. Vampyr will ensure of that.

But yeah, essentially: Ireena gained actual class levels; she wasn't just Tatyana with memory loss; she traveled with the party for 90% of the campaign and wasn't just a macguffin to be kidnapped/take to places; and I removed any of the "Sergei takes her into water/the sky and you never see her again" endings because I absolutely hated those.

VAN RICHTEN - Van Richten I tweaked a lot from his original incarnation. First, I started him off as Lawful Neutral. No, game, I know you tell me he's Lawful Good, but I'm gonna have to disagree with you that "training a racist tiger to genocide an ethnic camp" falls under the spectrum of Lawful Good. Second, I changed him from cleric to artificer (alchemist). I somehow just got the impression the dude was a godless man, and so he felt more fitting to be a man of science rather than a man of the church. Third, since I wasn't sure the other dread domains were ever going to be brought into 5e I moved him out of Darkon and into another world from the outside.

His backstory was also tied more into Strahd and the campaign in general, as well as the Dark Powers. About 30 years ago, he went into the mists with his own adventuring party (that included Escher) to try to rescue his kidnapped son, Erasmus. He found his son half-turned and begging him for death. Killing him, Van Richten hunted down the Vistani woman (Ezmerelda's mother) who sold the man, and in a rage strangled her to death. This gave him a curse. Ezmerelda witnessed it happen.

He went on a warpath against vampire spawn and vistani alike, until Strahd proposed a deal to Escher. Escher lured the group to a familiar dinner date with Strahd... only for Strahd to murder all of them, including Van Richten. Van Richten was approached by a dark power -- Vaund the Evasive, and given the option to return to life in exchange for the promise that Van Richten would eventually return to Amber Temple and free him. He took it, waking up outside of Barovia. From there he became famed vampire-hunter-book-author, until in his early 50's he decided it was time to seek vengeance and fulfill his promise. He brought in his hat of disguise, came up with an alibi, and headed into Barovia as Rictavio the Great.

He was absolutely played as a much more morally grey character at the start (the party's first encounter with him rather than Rictavio was him literally torturing a dude). He softened over the course of the campaign as he grew attached to the party, until finally reaching a point in the post-campaign where he's considered Lawful Good

Also: Ezmerelda was treated more or less as his adoptive daughter. She absolutely argued against this every single time, but he even slipped up and referred to her as his daughter on a few tense occasions.

RAHADIN - Rahadin I adjusted a lot, too. A LOOOOOOT. Strahd being comically evil makes sense -- the dude is a darklord, that kind of comes with the territory. With Rahadin, I wanted him to have more motivations to his actions, because the base game actually suggests that the dude is actually capable of caring. In the base game, you can find him at Amber Temple, trying to "petition the dark god into releasing his master from his torment." He screams in grief if he finds Strahd dead. Furthermore it felt like the game glosses over the fact that the dude was adopted as Barov's son. It doesn't bother addressing how Rahadin felt about Sergei, who would in theory be his other brother. I thought a number of things suggested in his backstory were interesting, but not expanded upon in the base game. So I took it upon myself to do so.

I changed how dusk elf society was built, which affected the three major dusk elf characters. It worked off of a pretty brutal caste system, with three kings at the top overseeing all of it. Rahadin was born in a lower caste, but actually brought into the warrior caste after a member of royalty was intrigued by his stature. Rahadin worked as a general, but grew frustrated by the inefficiencies of the caste system and its inequality. He started attempting to use his influence to petition other members of nobility into changing or loosening the strict system.

Patrina caught wind of this, and viewing it as a threat to her lifestyle + viewing it as an easy way to gain brownie points with those above her... tattled on him to the three kings, spinning what he was doing as treason. Rahadin was arrested and subsequently tortured. They attempted to execute him on a breaking wheel, breaking his bones against the spokes and leaving him in the town square as an example. He wound up escaping, crawling his way out of town until he was subsequently rescued by a group of human monks. The event pretty much broke him, morally. He went to Barov soon after and sold his people out, taking a personal hand in helping annihilate the dusk elves and conquering their land. Barov was so impressed by the man's loyalty that he adopted him as his son.

Part of this was done to make a connection as to why the hell Rahadin just absolutely fuckin' hates Patrina so much (since that definitely got played up during the campaign). When thinking of Rahadin's motivations, I tried to come at it from the angle that this man was evil... but legitimately cared deeply about Strahd, Sergei, and Tatyana. He was devestated from the events of the wedding, but saw Strahd's return as a second chance. As the lone surviving witness from the wedding, he desperately wanted to help the three of them. But his own blind loyalty to Strahd and his broken moral compass prevented him from doing so.

One of my favorite little additions was a sidequest I offered to the players (they wanted to redeem Rahadin). They were requested by him to retrieve (well, "not destroy or sell") one of his most precious belongings in his office. When they get there... it turns out it's a birthday card and a worn-out old amulet from Sergei and Tatyana that he's kept after all these years. They got Ireena to read the letter to him, to help him keep going after Strahd's death.

anyway i could ramble on about changes forever but i don't want this post to get too long haha. i have. many feelings. over this campaign. maybe at some point I'll do a separate post with some of the others.

i also kinda wanna do a comic of an event from Rahadin's backstory for my players but we'll see, I might deem it "too stupid."

#palidoozy rambles #curse of strahd #curse of strahd spoilers #cos #cos spoilers #WARNING IT LONG #I HAVE MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THESE THREE CHARACTERS

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bamf-jaskier · 4 years ago

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A long ramble of thoughts about the history of chaos on the continent and why Fringilla’s use of forbidden magics is pretty neat

So one thing not too many people knowing about the Witcher is that magic is called Chaos for a very specific reason: it is the opposite of Order. In Sword of Destiny, Borch tells Geralt that Chaos is the aggressor and Order is endangered and needs protecting. Chaos is what mages/elves/witchers/sources/etc can channel in order to produce magic.

It's important to note that magic DID NOT EXIST before the conjunction of the spheres so it's pretty strongly implied that before the conjunction Order and Chaos were one and the Conjunction split them apart, leaving Order vulnerable and Chaos in the hands of living beings to manipulate. When the conjunction happened, no race (humans, elves, werebubbs, etc) knew how to use magic but eventually most of them found a way to use chaos.

What is interesting is that we are told that Witchers/Mages/Elves all see magic differently but we are never told how. It is mentioned briefly that mages "pervert" magic by the Elves but we don't know what perversion of magic looks like to the elves because it is subjective to their own worldview. However, looking at the earliest human tribes on the continent, the Dauk and the Wozgor we can get some idea of the difference between human magic and elf magic. Both groups were very influenced by ritualistic group magic as well as worship of the gods. Many of these gods such as Melitele are still worshipped.

The Dauk were more into fertility and harvest, think early Beltane Midsummer stuff, while the Wozgor primarily worshipped Lilit with Blood Sacrifices. So we see humans are in a group-mentality when it comes to magic and summoning, they pull power from the earth and pool together their magic to create spells. At this time, elves and humans were not considered enemies so group-magic and more nature-esque magic is accepted by the elves. This is also supported by the dryads and elves seeming to prefer druids who still use magic group-magic today.

So now we start to get into when the philosophical schism on magic happened. Clearly, at some point, humans started working on less "group/nature magic" and on more individualistic magic. By the nature of chaos it is consuming so as more humans began working on individual magic, they became more power hungry. I had a theory that it was human's use of individualized magic that led them to leaving the nomadic tribe mentality and instead moving to more Nordling-Like culture where they live in one place and fight with other tribes, eventually building cities, colonizing, and in general taking the standard course of human history. So now humans have magic. And they have POWER.

So you get mages who are fighting for their tribes, their groups and eventually kingdoms like Novigrad begin to form. Now the Brotherhood was formed in the 8th century by the Novigrad Union which was a group of druids, mages, and priests who signed a non-agression pact to stop the raids and warfare that were so common for centuries. However, the Union fell apart due to difference in views on magic while the Brotherhood stayed together.

The Brotherhood is now sort of the ruling party on the continent, it's the only power really left after the Union. It's not its own Kingdom so it can technically be considered neutral. This puts a lot of responsibility on the Brotherhood and the Northern Rulers are overwhelmed by the number of monsters. Previously, humans were so focused on killing each other they couldn't really organize and do anything about the monsters but now that society is developing it's a real problem for trade and travel. so they create the first Witchers in Rissberg. However, once they find out that the Witcher don't have the same magic aptitude as mages, they are discarded as failed experiments.

This is where is gets interesting again for me. Because Witchers actually can cast magic as strong as mages, they elect to use signs but Witchers can pool their magic together in order to cast more powerful spells. So what was the difference between mages and witcher that had the mages deem Witchers as failures? I am theorizing that Witchers channel chaos whereas mages manipulate it.

The way I describe it in my fic is that Witchers act as a conduit for chaos, think of it like sucking up magic into a straw, the Witcher is the straw, they bring chaos in it's purest form into the world. Then, once the magic is in our realm, they shape it into the spell or form they desire. It's similar to how elves and ancient humans used magic. This is why the elves don't call a Witcher's magic a perversion but a mage's magic is.

I'm theorizing that Mages on the the other hand bring magic in through almost a mold. When a mage summons chaos, that chaos can only be used for the very specific purpose that they want in that moment. It ties into their philosophy on willpower. What you desire is the magic you have. So a Witcher could begin to cast an Aard and then halfway through change the sign into an Igni and it would work fine. However, a mage can't begin to cast a portal and then change it into a lightning bolt. But this is also the reason mages are so powerful, their magic is specific. It is decided and the willpower behind it makes it a stronger spell.

NOW FINALLY we can begin talking about forbidden magics. So I'm not going to get into the First and Second Ages of the Witchers but just know that Witchers are now off on the continent doing their own thing and monster hunting, creating their own culture, etc. The Brotherhood does NOT care for this. They can see control slipping from their fingers so they and they are worried other mages are going to experiment the same way they experimented to create Witchers but this time they will make something even more powerful. Something that could topple their power.

The Brotherhood begins to ban magic that could be used to manipulate the natural order. The main three banned magics of the Brotherhood are Goetia (demonology), Necromancy and Ancient Magics. Now demonology was actually practiced by the Wozgor and many think that Lilit was actually a demon they summoned. Necromancy and Ancient Magics both have the potential for abuse but not more so than any other form of magic. However these are all powerful magics. But it's not just BANNING magic that creates censure with the brotherhood. It's the stringent guidelines of how to perform magic even though we KNOW there are multiple ways to channel chaos. The Brotherhood also creates a system with the court that also creates censure because courtly expectations now place an emphasis on respectability and governance and how you should hold yourself, etc. Being a mage becomes a lot more restrictive and a lot less experimental.

So we have to ask ourselves, what does Fringilla do that causes her to be considered abhorrent, In Tissaia's words: "I will defend our way of life, The Brotherhood, The Academies, the order that we have built up over centuries, you've rejected it all Fringilla"

So here's what we KNOW Fringilla has done: Forced Mages in Servitude until they decide to serve the White Flame (of course Fringilla says it isn't servitude but Triss disagrees), Practice Necromancy, Demonology, and Fire Magics She specifically says the phrase "most of us came from Aretuza and Ban Ard" so here's what we have to consider, how did Fringilla get them there, she can't have kidnapped everyone and as well if u know some spoilers from the book then there are plenty of mages that voluntary work for Nilfgaard.

Fringilla works with ANYONE who has chaos, not just people deemed worthy by the Brotherhood. In addition, she works will all magic, no limitations. In many ways, Nilfgaardian magic is returning to ancient magic. If you watch the battle at Sodden, the mages perform a lot of life-force spells. I have a theory that those types of spells are MEANT to be performed in groups and since they aren't, the mage withers and dies.

Also, listen, in another world Nilfgaard could be the hero. If they didn't show Nilfgaard being generally evil like killing everyone and sacrificing mages and stuff they actually have good reasoning? Cintra is objectively terrible. They literally almost killed off an entire race? The Genocide of the Elves is very much brushed over and honestly Cintra should have been overthrown ages ago. Also Nilfgaard has policies of cooperativity and community and honestly if they didn't so morally bereft acts their society has a lot of potential.

Fringilla is returning magic to how to was pre-brotherhood where it's groups of loosely defined mages doing what they want. She is also trying to break of the individualistic mindset of most mages which I think is interesting because it goes against the very soul of how mages perform magic. It's like Tissaia said, Fringilla is rejecting centuries of tradition. In any other world, Fringilla would be the Katniss to the Brotherhood's Capital. If Nilfgaard wasn't cast as so brutal they would literally be considered a revolutionary force trying to oust a genocidal dictatorial system (Cintra). Granted, many people have compared Nilfgaard to either being a Roman Empire or Soviet Russia analog, both brutal totalitarian or imperial regimes which probably is part of the reason Nilfgaard is so brutal. I am suggesting that in another universe, Nilfgaard could be instead of an imperial-religious-type regime a more revolutionary force.

Perhaps an AU where Nilfgaard teams up with Cintran Rebels and arrives at the city to help Cintran Freedom Fighters tear it down and then allows Cintra to rebuild on their own terms. Basically, I’m talking about the overthrow of the monarchy system present in most of the continent.

I would really like to see an AU where Fringilla is a revolutionary figurehead trying to work to establish a democratic system in a monarchal society while going against centuries of magical tradition. I think with the addition of magic and complexity of politics not the continent there’s just so much to think about here.

#listen #if anyone #and I mean literally anyone #read to the end of this you are a hero #I know a lot of world building stuff about the Witcher and I like to talk about it #honestly I might write out this Fringilla thing myself #cause fucking hell it sounds very cool once I said it #but I have no time for WIPs #whatever #I don't care #let's GO #lemme know if you liked this at all #the witcher #fringilla #worldbuilding #nilfgaard #cintra #myposts

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poorly-drawn-akira · 4 years ago

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Jojo’s Bizarre Fantasy Lore Masterpost

Locations:

Kimyonah- Name of the Pangea-esque continent where the majority of people live excluding small island populations and populations beneath the oceans. Cities: Bohken- A relatively centrally located city-state. A central hub for trading of all kinds and neutral ground for diplomatic meetings. It hosts the Council of Races, a collection of representatives from a handful of Kimyonah's races who wish to view policies as a collaborative effort.

Orinoco- An underwater city of the Moringua people. Their ruling city. It is the only settlement of the Moringua Empire that is partially above water. This part is the hall where the king receives foreign dignitaries, diplomats, guests, etc. Nalion- A small, peaceful kingdom open to all, regardless of past or race. Was founded by a man named Erikson, but is currently lead by his son. Though officially labeled as a kingdom, Nalion functions more like a closely knit town. Its western border is lined by the coast, and its northern, southern, and eastern borders are lined by forest. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Vyliesi- A western kingdom that is mainly populated by humans. It's customs are fairly old-fashioned, though the current king is trying to change this. It is said that this land is home to pegasi, and its terrain is fairly mountainous. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Hilonia- A desert kingdom that not much is known about. It is said that the inhabitants are all 'wild animals', and most who try and travel there never return for one reason or another. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Ashen Grounds- A medium sized, recently discovered place that resides within a decrepit forest. The kingdom got that name because when it was discovered, the whole chunk of it had seemingly no live fauna, making it hard to breath, the ground permanently stained with ash, there are barely any buildings except for the jagged pikes of stone, and large castle of obsidian. The only “living” things inhabiting there are the king himself and these sentient constructs made out of ash and fire magic. (by kalos-absurd-crusade)

Riposo: A fortress city that was originally used as a strategic point to intercept other nation invasions.. Now though it houses many adventures and their respective guilds. A place that is always bustling with people with requests for adventurers. With requests being as simple as gathering herbs, to battling the most fearsome of monsters. (by asknerdizzy)

Cielo: A city in the clouds that is mostly populated by avian like species. It is a city that rarely ever lets anyone enter. The residents who choose to leave can’t enter again unless on urgent business with a seal of approval from a ruler. This is all due to a massacre that happened when someone brought in an unknown individual who seemed to know the city’s layout beforehand without them ever entering it. It was suspected that one of their own was behind it, so this rule was set in place. It’s highly guarded, with mages working around the clock casting anti-intelligence magic. The city is filled with high class individuals, and relics of the Gods that most be protected at all costs. (by asknerdizzy)

Villages: Morven- A small village located in the Kaldae Mountains inhabited by humans. Winters can be rough, but it is sustained by snow runoff in the warmer months, which allows the villagers to store enough food for these winters. Due to it's isolation, they rarely trade. Malik-Kei is worshiped as a guardian of the village who protects it’s inhabitants through the tough winters. A shrine to her resides on the south side of the village. It houses her stone.

Aether- Tree bound village of the Gruidae people. Due to a near genocide that only halted 30 years ago, Aether was established as a magically protected city for Gruidaes.The main temple of Crah-Dia is located in it’s center, and there are several members of the Fellowship of Everyday Miracles who live within Aether who serve to protect it. Wasamond- A small village under the lake of Bridgegar Thicket for merfolk, it's mainly women and children but there are mermen. It's a place to avoid the unstable conflict of the seas. (by moriohs-little-demon) Rootwood- A small village built and inhabited by the Elzen people. (by dio-of-shadows)

Landmarks: Kaldae Mountains- A large mountain rage in the north-east of Kimyonah. It contains the isolated village of Morven. Morven is located on one of the lower peaks, Malik-Kei, named by the people of Morven for their guardian spirit of the same name. Bridgegar Thicket- A forest with a large lake in the middle. The forest is bordered by nigh impenetrable thick, thorny brush. Due to being unable to see past it, most creatures write the forest off as nothing of value. Openings to the forest are only passable by taurfolk and nature spirits. (by moriohs-little-demon) Thalai's Grove: named after a rumored dragon that was laid to rest there, the grove is home to a large lake with an under ground cave system. In the caves, there is a shrine to the god of health, Taymos, where Elves would pray for good health and leave gifts of food, wine and gold. (by hold-my-flowercrown) Eternity Graveyard - A desolate wasteland was a battlefield where warriors from several different nations clashed for supremacy. It now serves as the home base of The Brotherhood of Eternity, and has been the sight where many adventurers meet their end. (by dio-of-shadows)

Battaglia: An underground Coliseum lays under the city of Riposo. It was once, and still is, used as a shelter to the people in times when the city is under siege. The Coliseum itself is protected with many Magic runes lining its walls that makes it difficult to destroy from most magic. When the city is not under attack the Colosseum is used to advertised adventures and their skills. Usually battling other adventures or caught monsters in the ring. Some common folk come down to watch the spars for entertainment, some watch to find new people to join their groups, and some bet on the battles. These bets are what largely helps with the financial upkeep of the Colosseum. The inner hallways of the Colosseum are filled with many stalls for blacksmiths to advertise their wears to the people. The more powerful weapons are bought here. (by asknerdizzy)

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Races:

Humans: Humans are as the name implies. However, they can possess varying levels of magical ability. Witches- Humans who have above average magical abilities. White and black witches exist. White witches may form guilds in order to train others and to more effectively do good, but it's not uncommon to encounter lone white witches. Black witches tend to chose to be alone, although rumors of a guild exist. Black witches may not actively seek to do harm, but what sets them apart from white witches is a desire to grow their power whether that be through deals with demons, rituals, etc.

Half Bloods: Demons- Half demons are typically the result of a masculine demon and a feminine mortal creature (usually humanoid). Half demons tend to possess some level of dark magic and horns of some kind, although these horns tend to be smaller in size compared to a full demon. Other indications may include odd body markings, animal body parts such as legs or paws, and, very rarely, extra eyes or wings. Half-Demons are considered to be rare. They also often gather a following from cults, and they can become immortal and maintain this immortality if they consume the souls of the damned at an extremely high rate. (added by dio-of-the-shadows) Dragons-

Humanoids: Arisen- A blanket term for any creature brought back to life by necromancy. Typically, an Arisen was human, but most humanoids can be subjected to the process. An Arisen will maintain their personality and memories without additional spells being applied. An Arisen cannot heal themself when injured and has no need for sleep or for food. If an Arisen is taken too far from who resurrected them, they will begin to decay. Their creation is frowned upon, if not outright banned and/or punishable by execution, by most settlements and races.

Gruidae- Tall humanoids who can take the form of a crane. In their humanoid form, they have small feathery tufts resembling small wings where other humanoids would have ears. Over the past few centuries, they were nearly wiped out entirely for their feathers and blood, both of which were widely used in potion crafting. The remaining population resides almost entirely in Aether, and allow themselves to be governed by the Council of Races, of which they have a member in. Whoever is elected for the Council also serves as Aether's governor. Akumaoni- A race that is considered to be the guardians of the afterlife. They are humanoid in appearance, though they typically have horns, sharp teeth, and their pupils are always little more than a slit. They are said to work beside the gods, and even are considered a part of the Renian Pantheon, and their numbers are few. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Komoriberi- Humanoids with the ability to transform into bats. While in humanoid form, they retain thier wings, fangs, and have bat-like ears. Their diet mainly consists of fruit and small animals, and though they are often mistaken for vampires the sun has no more affect on them than it does on a normal human. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Dragons- Humanoids that have the ability to transform into a... well a dragon. The exact type of dragon can vary (as can size), and most have some sort of elemental affinity. While in their humanoid form they will not have access to many of their abilities, though they will usually have horms and some may have wings as well. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Divine Dragons- Similar to dragons, but have an extended lifespan and divine powers as they are considered to be gods. It is possible for a dragon to only be half divine if only one of their parents is of the divine lineage, in which case they will have little divine powers if any at all. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Dryads- An all female species of spirits that reside in the forests. They punish trespassers and keep peace in their forest by any means necessary. While they aren't immortal, they do have a very extended life expectancy compared to humans, about triple that of the average healthy adult human male. (by moriohs-little-demon)

Angels: A Humanoid race that has the only avian trait of wings sprouting on their backs. They are more adapt with the magic affinity of light and fire than some species and have a longer life span than humans. (by asknerdizzy) Okami- A race of wolf folks. They keep themselves away in the woods and the outlands of the continent. Being canines, they are actually omnivorous, and hold no ill will towards other species. However, during full blood moons, they become irrational and feral, attacking anything in sight (by moriohs-little-demon) Werewolves- Infected creatures who take on the tails, ears, and rough warm furlike hair of the Okami. However, they keep most of their original race's appearance during the daytime. They experience feral instincts more often as they are not raised to overcome the animal instinct to hunt, happening every full moon. (by moriohs-little-demon)

Elves: Elzen- Elves recognizable by their pointed ears and mastery of magic. Once every 100 years there is an Elzen oracle who is able to look into the future. (by dio-of-the-shadows)

Merpeople: Moringua- An entirely male race of eel mermen who live in temperate oceans. They are immortal, but not invulnerable (weapons kill them, but time won't). They are known for their bloodthirsty, warmongering natures. Due to this, they are governed by both a King and a General. The General overseeing military plans, training of forces, and the overall making sure the other elected officials are doing their jobs. King serves to handle diplomatic affairs with other races and to oversee reproduction. Reproduction is a closely guarded secret. Several theories exist on the subject, but no definitive answers have been given by the Moringas.

---------------

Factions:

Paladins and Soldiers: Order of Hamon- A paladin order who work out of Bohken. They modeled themselves after folk heroes of human lore such as Jonathan Joestar. They resolve themselves to uphold the laws of the land and to protect innocents without question. This does lead to some of their members making lawful stupid choices. Their patron deity is Sol, the God of the sun.

White Lily Platoon- A small army hailing from Vyliesi, lead by the royal knight Sir Jacain. The lord that this platoon serves is unknown, as is their current objective. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux)

The Bladed Roses- A small traveling group of do-gooders, lead by a knight named Taiana. The group is quite odd-ball in terms of composition, but is almost always accepting new members. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux)

Clerics: The Fellowship of Everyday Miracles- A cleric order who's main temple is located in Aether. They travel about, healing people where needed. They will often stick around a town for a few weeks, accepting shelter and food in return for healing, before leaving again. Some may chose to travel with questing groups if they come across them, or if asked by said group. Their patron deity is Crah-Dia, the God of healing.

Assassins: Bloodwater Assassins guild- A small group of assassins that has been known to do even the dirtiest of jobs. However, it is rumored that a few members have been committing traitorous actions as of late. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Bandits: The Brotherhood of Eternity- A cult of bandits that worship the one true ruler of hell and earth. They are known for stealing from various kingdoms and pitting other countries against one another so they can collect the spoils. (by dio-of-the-shadows)

---------------

Deities:

Gods and Goddesses: Sol- The God of the sun. He is associated with the sun and shining light on hidden things. This last aspect is what the Order of Hamon focuses on: Bringing what is in the dark into the light. Certain mortals are said to be blessed by Sol, and this gift is known as Hamon: The ability to deliver the sun's energy through their hands. Taymos- A God of health. (by hold-my-flowercrown) Crah-Dia- A God of healing. He is associated with healing through magic as opposed to medicine. His temple is located inside of a large, hollow tree in Aether where a spring with healing properties resides. The World Serpent (Deceased)- A deity of the abyss of the unknowable night and proclaimed Father of monsters; this foul snake sought to swallow the world in order to propagate - claiming that in its bowels it’s followers would be eternal and emerge in the new world as saints. When slain by a band of unspoken heroes, this dark god cursed the cowards and weaklings who did not fall upon the invading blades to save their god and master. What has become of this cult remains mostly unknown… (by BD-Handystand) Renian Pantheon- A group made up of many of the Nalionian and Vyliesian gods, many of which are considered to be divine dragons. The main gods names are as follows: Shoza, Naoto, Fionei, Kaisho, Aiota, Aogei, Juniji, Synia, Altitha, and Yomeinu. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Shoza- The original divine dragon, he is known as a god of the skies. However, he turned his back on mortals long ago, and now has little involvement in their affairs despite still being a major religious figure. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Hina (deceased)- A divine dragon known as the goddess of love, she gave her life to avert a great tragedy. She was wed to Shoza, and many speculate that her death lead him to become bitter and cold. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Naoto- The son of Shoza and heir to the divine throne, though little is actually written of him in religious texts. He is said to wield a divine lance, and to travel the world in an attempt to bring peace. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux)

Fionei- A dragon whom ascended to godhood upon marrying Naoto, and is said to bring good fortune to those who practice the arts. As she was not born a god, she has no true divine abilities. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux)

Kaisho- Son of Naoto who inherited all the powers of the divine. He is a god of knowledge who is believed to have rejected godhood. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux)

Aiota- One of two twin gods, who is also the daughter of Naoto and considered the goddess of rebellion. It is said that she only inherited one divine ability, but little else is known besides that and her name. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux)

Aogei- The other twin god, who is also the son of Naoto and considered a god of nature. It is said he can heal others and control the growth of plants, but not much else besides that and his name is known. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux)

Juniji- A fell god said to be Shoza's brother. Supposedly had only one divine ability, and the power he gained from it drove him mad. Little else is known. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux)

Synia- An Akumaoni goddess who rules the afterlife, though she often more-so acts as the guardian to its gate. Is said to take on a role similar to the Enma. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux)

Altitha- A human who ascended to become the goddess of strength and vengeance after losing someone to Juniji. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux)

Yomeinu (deceased)- Former god with the power to raise the dead. His species was unknown, but many feared him due to his powers. In reality, he only ever used them to hold a yearly festival in which families could give their loved ones a final send off. (by daily-rubbersoul-redux) Mylia- A worshiped deity of the Dryad race. She is said to be the creator of the Bridgegar Thicket to protect the bounty of nature from the likes of war, pestilence, and death. When prayed to, one may expect health, luck, and bountiful hunt in their future, so long as they do not waste the gift life has brought them. (by moriohs-little-demon) Demons and Spirits: Cake- A minor demon of wrath. Malik-Kei- The alleged spirit of a young woman who died in the cold waiting for her fiance to return. According to the legend, her body turned to stone and her spirit remained as a guardian of the mountain. A sacrificial ceremony that involves a mock wedding to the Malik-Kei stone is preformed by the village of Morven during years of unsatisfactory snowfall. An unmarried man between 16 and 30 is chosen by lottery to be sacrificed. The "groom" is then dressed in traditional wedding garb (which is very light as weddings are traditionally done only in summer). The sacrifice is tied to the stone so that he is kneeling next to the stone, and a wedding ceremony is held. The sacrifice is then left out with the belief being that if he is frozen to death overnight that the sacrifice was accepted. Black Mages- Considered to be great wielders of magic in the mortal realm, and are extremely well known for diving into the darker arts. They are only known to be demons and half demons. (by dio-of-the-shadows)

Corrupted Spirit: Spirits generally are apparitions of elements, such as nature. Several of them have some form of sentience. However a corrupted spirit is one that was tampered with either by magic, great tragedy, or the desire of the spirit. Turning it into a physical manifestation based on the intent of the spirit, magic or tragedy. The spirit can be corrupted by a cleric or paladin. (by asknerdizzy)

#jjbfantasy #Lore masterpost #More to be added as more lore comes in

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trans-corvo · 4 years ago

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Dragon age is really racist towards First Nations people and I think we should all be a little more critical of how the elves are heavily coded as indigenous and over the course of the games their land is stolen, they're called savages, and are victims of both a cultural and physical genocide at the hands of a colonial christian coded people, which the games then justify by debunking their religion. What they believe definitely isnt real but the maker is. Meanwhile 90% of the elves you meet ingame are so alienated from their culture they consider it as backward as humans (sera), are downright condescending towards them (solas) or if they are part of the culture, are depicted as dangerous and deeply misinformed (merrill). Some of the dalish you meet even parrot the sort of racist shit you hear from white Canadians speaking about First Nations people ("it all happened so long ago, it's time we moved past it.")

They have such a specific flavour of white canadian colonialism and I wish we talked more about it.

#dragon age #dai #david gaider

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nikkoliferous · 5 years ago

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"Loki brought it all on himself"

Ok, we need to talk about this frequent claim that Loki deserves all the bad things that have ever happened to him.

Firstly, let's just get this out of the way. The amount of gaslight in the assertion that Loki “broke his family's trust” is unbelievable. As in, I literally cannot believe there are people who genuinely think this. They turn canon completely on its head. Loki's family betrayed his trust—by kidnapping him as an infant, lying to him for his entire life, raising him to despise the Jötnar while knowing that he was actually one of them, and chronically mistreating him—long before he took on any villainous behaviour. Loki’s story is very much one of what can happen when you push even a good person too damn far.

The worst thing Loki can be accused of having done prior to the complete mental collapse he suffers upon learning his life has been a lie, is letting a handful of Frost Giants into Asgard to crash Thor's coronation. He does this partly—in his own words, and he has no reason to lie about this to Laufey of all people—to protect the kingdom from Thor's foolishness and immaturity. And he is not alone in his belief that Thor is not ready to be ruler of Asgard. Odin himself, in a scene that did not make it into the film, expresses doubt about this, and Frigga, interestingly enough, reassures him by reminding him that Loki will be by Thor's side to counsel him and, for lack of better phrasing, keep him from doing too much damage.

So I think we can dismiss that action as a "betrayal" of his family's trust—and even if one does want to consider this a betrayal, it certainly isn't one on a scale that merits spending thousands of years enduring psychological torture (which is what solitary confinement is).

Another assertion frequently made is that Loki manipulates Thor into going to Jötunheim to confront Laufey. Loki most definitely manipulates Thor—but at no point does he suggest doing that. Thor comes up with that harebrained scheme all on his own. The most Loki does is attempt to manipulate the rift between Thor and Odin by playing into Thor's sense of righteous anger and his resentment at being shut down. Not only does Loki not suggest at any point that they should confront Laufey, but he actively takes steps to prevent them from reaching Jötunheim. He tries to talk Thor out of going; he orders a guard to inform Odin of their plans, expecting they'll be intercepted in time; he takes the initiative to speak for them to Heimdall, very likely because he knows Heimdall dislikes/distrusts him. And after all of that fails, he attempts to talk Thor down from starting a war once they're standing in Laufey's court. Interestingly enough, I never see anyone claim that Thor betrays his family's trust by reigniting a war with the Frost Giants, endangering the lives of his family, his friends, and his would-be subjects. It's almost like all the accusations of betrayal that people level at Loki aren't based on any sort of objectivity or moral high ground at all and are merely rationalizations by people working backwards from the conclusion that Loki is “evil”, simply because the narrative has framed him as a villain.

We also need to reckon with the fact that Loki did not "steal" the throne. Thor was stripped of his power and banished to Earth (which was not Loki's doing) when Odin fell into the Odinsleep (also not Loki’s doing). After Thor, Loki is next in line for the throne. That's literally just how the royal line of succession works. With both Odin and Thor incapacitated in one way or another, the responsibility of ruling falls legitimately to Loki. Frigga herself names him regent-king. Loki neither banishes Thor from Asgard nor forces Odin to go napnap, nor indeed does he even attempt to manipulate Frigga to pass the role of regent onto him—if anything, he’s shocked when she does so; therefore, it is completely unreasonable to accuse him of having "usurped" anything.

It’s equally unreasonable to claim that Loki “arranged for” Thor’s banishment, yet I see people say the same time and time again. Let us just recall that 1) Loki attempts to intervene when the fight between Thor and Odin begins to escalate

and 2) This is Loki’s face upon Odin’s inexplicably extreme punishment.

Look, I know Loki is known as being a liar, but if you think his shock here isn’t genuine, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.

Now, I could stop right here because the claim is that Loki betrayed his family’s trust first and thus brought everything on himself. And as I’ve clearly demonstrated, any villainous actions Loki takes, be they in the first Thor film or thereafter, come after learning the truth (aka having his trust broken by his family). But because I know how much people love to move the goalpost when it comes to Loki, let’s just go on to address why none of his actions are truly villainous in the classic sense of the word.

Every wrongful action Loki takes in this film, outside of the aforementioned interference with Thor’s coronation (which we’ve already established may have been ill-conceived but certainly was not a “betrayal”) is a reaction to various betrayals against him or a result of paranoia fueled by a complete emotional collapse.

“Trying to kill” Heimdall is not a betrayal because Loki is defending himself from Heimdall who is attempting to commit regicide. (Also, if Loki had wanted Heimdall dead, he would be. The fact that he’s not, is a demonstration of Loki’s benevolence, not his ruthlessness).

Lying to Thor about Odin being dead is cruel, but it’s not borne of a desire to hurt Thor. Both the lie and, later, sending the Destroyer are borne of desperation, because as Tom himself has stated, Loki believed Thor would kill him if he made it back to Asgard and learned the truth. This is a moment that, if there were any justice in the MCU, ought to have haunted Thor for the rest of his life:

That’s one Jötun who definitely fears him.

This goes far beyond the claim that he betrayed his family, but I’ll address it anyway: tricking the Frost Giants by inviting them into the palace under false pretenses is not a betrayal because there is no established relationship of trust between Loki and the Jötnar. You can’t betray a trust that doesn’t exist.

And attempted genocide is definitely not a betrayal of his family’s trust because genocide is literally what this family does. Genocide is their entire legacy. Despite claims to the contrary, this was an established fact well before Ragnarok. (”So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me?” “I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god, just like you.” “[What of the lives you took on Earth?] A mere handful compared to the number Odin has taken himself”). If anything, trying to destroy Jötunheim was an attempt to live up to the family name. It was misguided and wrong, but it was in no way out of line with what Loki and Thor were raised to do. Asgard is a warrior culture; killing their enemies is not perceived as immoral, but honourable. In fact, one of the reasons Loki’s actions were likely seen as dishonourable is because he used the power of the Bifröst rather than engaging the Jötnar in direct warfare. (Though it is possible, given the state of Svartalfheim, that this was also done in the past to wipe out the Dark Elves). But what was it that Odin said when he was yelling at Thor in the Observatory prior to banishing him?

Odin: “Do you realise what you’ve done? What you’ve started?”

Thor: “I was protecting my home!”

Odin: “You cannot even protect your friends! How can you hope to protect a kingdom?”

At no point does Odin state that killing the Jötnar is wrong. But he does criticize Thor for putting his friends in danger by going to confront Laufey. (This is still not the catalyst for Thor’s banishment. That comes later, when Thor calls Odin “an old man and a fool”). Loki, however, conveniently knows a way to destroy the Jötnar without risking any Asgardian lives. And since a condemnation of killing their enemies is not a part of Odin’s diatribe, he has no reason to believe that Odin disapproved of that part of Thor’s misbehaviour. So now he can say, “Look, Father. I did what Thor couldn’t!”

Thor: “Why have you done this?”

Loki: “To prove to Father that I am a worthy son. When he awakens, I will have saved his life. I will have destroyed that race of monsters and I will be true heir to the throne.”

Only, as we all know, it's in vain.

There’s only one moment in the entirety of the first Thor film that I would class as a genuine betrayal of his family’s trust, and that is that he puts both Frigga and Odin in harm’s way when he invites Laufey into Asgard under the false pretense of allowing him to slay Odin in his sleep. This was very short-sighted of him; what if he’d been too late and his scheme had gotten Frigga killed before he’d arrived to intervene? Betraying his family was not his intent here, but in his highly emotional state of mind, he did endanger them needlessly— much like Thor needlessly endangered his friends and his brother by going to Jötunheim and starting this whole mess to begin with. (However, I never see fans criticise Thor for this. And they should. My point here is not that Loki should not be criticised for endangering his family, but that there needs to be consistency. If you’re going to call out Loki for endangering his loved ones, you need to call out Thor as well. If you’re going to call out Loki for mass slaughter, you need to call out Thor as well).

In short, I think my favourite thing about the vast majority of Loki antis is their blatant disdain and lack of empathy for the mentally ill and the abused. And by ‘favourite thing’, I of course mean that it disgusts me.

(Tagging @magicmastered and @just-another-human-2019 because you both expressed interest in the post 😘)

#thor (2011)#loki meta #loki #thor #lady sif #the warriors 3 #heimdall #odin's a+ parenting #frigga's b+ parenting #mcu #loki derangement syndrome

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icewitcher · 4 years ago

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Finral Roulacase Staria AU

The conclusion to the elves saga !

Finally back on this AU ! I needed time to organize my thoughts on this because the end of the elves reincarnation arc is also the beginning of the Dark Triad/Qliphoth arc. And considering the heavy changes that happens in this AU, I couldn't take it lightly. But let's go for this part 6 ? of this AU !

- After a heavy reunion between Asta and Finral, it was time to end this madness. Before to go at the Shadow Palace, Asta cancelled the reincarnation spell on Klaus, Puli and other magic knights. But there was still a problem: the door to the Shadow Palace was closed. Cue to Asta yeeting the demon slayer sword at the secret palace, shocking people because of the raw strength that boy used.

- Finral is not letting Asta going and fighting a devil on his own. When they heard a devil was behind this, Langris and the rest of the Black Bulls wanted to go but the siblings not related by blood told them to stay there, people needed to stay outside and protect the city and his citizens. That was the true purpose of the magic knights and when Asta told them to do it for him, they couldn't say no. But the Bulls made him promise to come back in one piece as they have lot of time to caught up. Langris (who was still in his elf form) hugged Finral tightly and told him if he doesn't come back then he'll drag him outside this wrench place if he has too. But Finral had still to warn Asta about something.

"Asta, Yuno... He is possessed by an elf."

"One more reason to hurry up then. I'll wake up this crybaby."

"Crybaby ? You're sure we are talking about the same person."

"Yes !"

- They did not waste more time. Asta used his black form, giving Finral the confirmation his little brother was devil possessed but it wasn't scared. It was Asta and not one of the dark triad. They flew in the Shadow Palace but Zagred was back and their way was blocked by creature from the Underworld that could eat mana. However they were both arcane mage and could slice them easily but there was a lot of them and they knew they would lost time to kill them and make their way. There was also a risk of encountering an apostle of Sephira which would make them lost more time because they would have to fight someone that couldn't even recognized that a devil was behind their resurrection, too blinded by their hatred for humans. Asta and Finral decided to opt for solution number 2: using Finral's portal to move in the Shadow Palace and use his ability to create a portal where someone familiar was.

- And of course, Finral has to open a portal where was Mereoleona was. He wanted to ask Asta to punch him in the face as he couldn't believe he went where the lioness was hunting. Thankfully, Mereoleona told them (more like yelled at them) to join somewhere else while she was fighting Vetto of the Third Eye. Finral didn't even question her orders and grabbed Asta by the arm so they can get the fuck out of here before to be caught in the crossfire. However second attempt wasn't better. He passed on the other side of the portal and they found themselves in a fight between Noelle and Jack the Ripper vs Fana. And of course the fight has to happen in mid-air which means...

"I never thought I would die while falling."

"You'd rather die at the hand of the Zogratis siblings ?" asked Asta

"Hey, at least, I would die while fighting one of them !"

"What are you doing here Finral ?" shouted Noelle

"Oh, trying to stop a devil to commit the genocide of two races ?"

"Huh... what ? Are you sane ?"

"He is perfectly sane. Big bro Finral, you should open another portal and bring us somewhere else before we looks like crepe."

"I'll do that Asta."

- Noelle, Jack and Fana were left gobsmacked by the attitude of the two men but they didn't have time to say something as the two went somewhere else. Somehow, they managed to land in a calm room, even captain Rill, who was still under the control of a reincarnated elf, didn't notice them. Until Charmy shows up with food, she was hiding under Asta's comfortable fur coat because she heard Yuno was there. Same thing that happened in canon happens here: wolf in sheep's clothing reveal when Rill rejected Charmy's food and beat her up. And no, Finral is not shaking and try to escape without being notice by the elf while pushing Asta, it's just a strategy.

"Big bro Finral, you're okay ?"

"I'm perfectly fine. Let's just no waste our time here, that elf is a dead person in the next seconds..."

"Okay....."

- They saw Charmy's power up and decided to let her do her job (Asta is also understanding why Finral wanted to leave.) Their way is still blocked by those creatures from the Underworld. This time, there's no way to escape, they need to destroy them if they want to reach the room where the devil is. However they realized they are wasting their force and energy and by the time they'll join Licht, a good part of their strength would be gone. They could still fight but there would be a risk to be an easy target. Thankfully, someone must have heard them because a giant source of mana arrived, Licht's mana was woke up and somehow Yuno's presence came back. Finral knew this was their chance so he opened up a portal, knowing it will bring them where they need to be.

- Their timing couldn't be better, the devil was about to use a trident to kill the carbon coby of the First Wizard King. However Asta did a slash made of antimagic and Zagred had to dodge it but Finral had opened a portal and redirect the slash towards the devil which cut his arm. Yuno, Licht, Patri, Nero and Lumiere looked up to see where the slash was coming from. The unofficial Staria siblings were standing in the air, Asta still having his devil form which make three of them panicked but not Licht. He reassured them by saying this one was on their side.

"Hm, hm, hm... This is something interesting. I didn't expect a human to be devil possessed and have in his possession the fifth leaf grimoire I created 500 years ago."

"What ? Don't tell me you're jealous of me and my devil ? You have exactly the rest of your kind could wish for: A body, a five leaf grimoire and innocent people doing the dirty job for you. Too bad we're going to ruin your dream life."

Nice choice of words there.

Thanks !

- At first, Yuno didn't recognize Asta but when his foster brother started talking, his memories of childhood come back and realized the devil possessed boy he was scared of a few seconds sooner was his lost brother. He tried to say something but Asta and Finral started an attack on their own. Finral was controlling the space thanks to his mana zone which permitted him to release his slash with his swords whenever and wherever he wanted. As for Asta, he didn't have spells but he could keep up with Finral and his own attacs were effective since he was the one the most affected by forbidden magic due to his obvious devil possession. At a moment, they both landed a powerful attack and took this opportunity to join the rest of the group. They knew they would need to use a greater power than that if they wanted to beat Zagred but they needed to be careful. Seeing the duo focus, Yuno decide to drop the conversation for now but it didn't mean he would leave Asta alone. In fact he went at his side but still staying behind him.

- Asta noted that they were 5 people affected by forbidden magic so 5 people who were arcane stage mage meaning there chances to beat the devil was great. But his devil reminded him that antimagic was still the most efficient power. Just after that Licht used his ultimage magic to destroy completely the body of Zagred. Everyone thought they won but Asta and Finral knew it wasn't over, they could still feel the energy of the word soul devil so they acted fast. Finral teleported the heart of the devil right in front of Asta who was preparing to cut in two the heart of the devil.

"Send away."

"Heal"

"Oh crap... That's Dante all over again..." whispered Asta

"I couldn't agree more... But there's still a huge difference of power between Dante and this devil... By the way, does anyone knows what's his name ? It kinda becomes annoying to call him devil every single time..."

"I can't believe it..."

"Why should I tell my name to humans ? So you can remember the name of the one who killed you ?"

"No. We just want to pass the hi from you to Megicula and Lucifer when we will see them again. But that would be more polite if we knew your name." smirked Finral.

"Zagred...” he answered until his brain processed what these two humans said WHAT DID YOU SAY ? WHICH DEVILS DID YOU MENTION ?"

- Asta and Finral enjoyed the face on Zagred's face because they knew that he knew if he killed Asta and Finral then he will receive an awful hearing from these two. They didn't let humans alive unless they have a good reason. The rest was confused, they didn't understand but all of this time was enough for Asta to do a antimana zone and free everyone from the spell. Then Asta used Black Divider and was able to pierce Zagred's body due to Yuno's wind. Phase 2 of the fight starts.

- Zagred became more hostile and was trying to killed first those he deemed he didn't need anymore. But Asta, Finral and Yuno were always in his way. He finally had his chance to capture them when they tried to cut his body in three parts, knowing they were hunting his heart. The reason they were immobilized was because Finral's body has shown sign of weakness and both Asta and Yuno noticed it, distracting them from their goal. The word soul devil caught them and they couldn't do something to free themselves. Licht, Lumiere and Patri was trying to get to them but they were blocked by giant creature from the Underworld.

"You two are apparently too precious to die yet but you... I've got what I wanted from you so I can kill you now."

"Yuno !"

Shit, shit... Antima, a little help here would be nice...

You want more antimagic ?

Enough to send a little wave that could hurt this bastard.

Keeping the best for the Drak Triad, huh ?

Exactly !

- Asta released his sword and grabbed the hand that Zagred was using to hold him. His plan worked but he didn’t let it go until a slash almost cut in two the devil, revealing where the heart was. Asta was trying to shove back a panic attack when he saw this magic: dark magic, one of the two magics needed to create the Qliphoth tree. Yuno and Finral was trying to snap him out of whatever things his mind thought of, Antimagic devil was the only one who could remind him of what he should do.

Kill the bastard ! They can’t enact their plan if they don’t have a world magic tree user !

If they think they can create the tree then it means the two magics in this era exist....

Theories will do us no good ! NOW, KILL THAT MOTHERFUCKER BEFORE I’LL DO IT MYSELF !!!

Then do it...

Wait, really ? You’ll let me take the control of your body so I can smack the bastard myself ?

Yeah, it’s the least thing I can do to repay you. Wthout you, I’ll be a dead man...

Huh... Thanks, I suppose ?

- Everyone shudders when they realized that something changed in Asta, that Asta isn’t Asta anymore, it’s just the way he grinned that make them understood the devil in Asta is the one in control. And also how his other green eye turned demonic red. They are all on their guard but Finral is confident because he is sure it’s the first time Asta’s devil actually was in control but with Asta’s permission. He knows he is right but he doesn’t know why. Then the devil slashs Zagred’s heart.

“Who... Who are you, bastard ?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am. No matter how strong or how amazing you are... you have lost and you’re about to disappear. Farewell, loser.”

“Holy shit.... You burned him...”

“OH FOR THE MOTHER FUCKING LOVE OF GOD !!!! I WAS WAITING TO DO THIS FOR A LONG TIME !!! THANKS KID TO HAVE LET ME THIS OPPORTUNITY !!!

“Next one is Lucifero ?”

“HA ! you bet your ass, spatial magic user ! Now, not that I don’t like humans but would be bad if you killed the kid while I’m in control so I’ll return in my hole until the next devil we have to fight. Adios, you assholes !”

- As soons as Antima leave, Asta is back, the Shadow Palace decided to be a bitch and enter in auto destruction mode or whatever happened in canon. Finral managed to brought back everyone where they were, shocking humans and elves alike and Asta opened the exit (more like destroyed it but shhh. Nothing happened.)

- Complete chaos awaits them once they are back in the human dimension: all the reincarnated elves are in the capital and they are being consumed by their hatred. Mereoleona, Jack, Finral and Asta himself are ready to throw punches at them again if needed. But Patolli ruined their fun by explaining there’s another way to do this: By using the world tree magic of William. Antima may have said a fuck and Asta is having a mental meltdown, mental existencial crisis, mentally screaming while panicking and preparing a potential counter plan. AT THE SAME TIME ! But he is having that in his head while in the outside, he looks completely calm but his Ki is betraying him. Yami and Finral shared a glance, deciding to adress this later.

- Several minutes later, beautiful spell happening and the elves are leaving the bodies of their human counterpart, Licht gives back the demon dweller sword to Asta saying the grimoire is his now but also to be careful if he’s going to venture in the dephts of forbidden magic in the purpose of defeating the devils especially Lucifero if he is their final target. Because yes, if the elves know about forbidden magic then they must have a little idea on who is their leader.

- After the end of the fight against Zagred and putting an end to the reincarnation of the elves, Finral along with Asta, Noelle, Mimosa and Nero has been contacted by and had been asked to join the Wizard King’s office. Under normal circumstances, Asta would have been excited to meet the man he saw as an hero throughout his childhood even after being capture by the Dark Triad but since he knew what they were planning, he needed to share his informations with the leader of the Magic knights.

- Once in the office, they saw a child and captain Yami but Finral realized who was the child even though he couldn’t understand how it happen. The two royal princess were shocked but Asta wasn’t fazed, he’ve seen crazier thngs and with forbidden magic, everything was possible. But Julius reassured them and explained them how it happen. Then he explained why he made them come here after a moment of fanboying for meeting Nero and Asta.

- Finral was about to burst and ready to fight the entire Kira family if he has to. They want to put the blame on Asta for the whole thing with Zagred and the elves ! Yami has to put an hand on his shoulder to calm him down even if he understood why the spatial mage was angry. The kid is finally out of mini-hell only to be the scapegoat because nobles refuse to admit it was their fault from the very beginning. But Mimosa reminded them they had allies on their side. If the Spade citizens couldn’t help then maybe the Clover citizens that has been captured all these years ago and freed by Asta could be witness for his trial. It’s at this moment Asta decided to talk.

“Instead of trying to find a suitable culprit, they should focus on the real danger that the Triad is and what they are planning to do.”

“You know what they want to do !?”

“Asta-kun, if you really know, you need to share it with us so we can prepare.”

“Is there anyone approaching this room ? This is quite... dangerous information I’m about to share. I also want to know if it would be useful in my eventual trial.”

“No one is there, you can talk.”

“Okay... Anyone’s here has already heard about the Qliphoth Tree ?”

- Next thing that happens is Julius shaking and when Asta talked about what could happen if the Qliphoth Tree is created, everyone in the room is horrified. Julius is already trying to figure a counter plan, if the whole world is targetted then alliance needs to be made between the kingdoms if they want to have a chance to survive. Training also needs to be harder, devils aren’t easy to beat and this time they won’t have the help of the Frst Wizard King. Julius asked for the permission to give this info to the captains and Asta agreed. Everyone needs to be prepare, he knows how ruthless the Zogratis siblings can become and he didn’t count their devils.

“By the way, how this tree is created ?” asked Yami.

“Well... Avoid to be capture by the Triad, same goes for the world tree magic user.”

“You dont mean...”

“They need Dark magic and World tree magic to create the Qliphoth. If you ever be caught, I’m not sure if we could save you before you and the other die.”

- The meeting is over once Asta said that and the six mages return to the Black Bulls, the antimagic user being under the protection of the Yami and his squad. Yes, even Mimosa because she needs to be comforted by Noelle after the shocking news. Yami got the permission from Julius to tell what Asta told them at his group. Of course the whole squad is excited to see Asta and were ready to do what they always wanted but when they see the sour faces of their captain and their most powerful member, the Bulls knows bad news are coming. And the fact that Mimosa is trembling doesn’t help them. Yami drop the bomb and no one wants to enjoy the new day and their victory anymore . In a few words, the tiredness caught up to them and they decided to rest for the day, every one on their side. Finral and Asta shares the room and they cuddled, Asta could sleep easily but not Finral, not after what he learned in mere hours. His only comfort was ruffling Asta’s hair.

- A few days later, the Bulls are helping with the reconstruction of the capital but none of them have forgot the menace on their head while everyone was enjoying the peace. The citizens didn’t care when they saw all the Bulls being on their guard even though they wonder why they were so tense. The citizens of Spade and Clover that recognized Asta as one of their savior went to thank him and all they got was a curt nod from him. The Clover citizens put it as part of his personality but those from Spade knew there as something wrong however they said nothing.

- Just like Julius predicted it, the magic parliament wanted to get to Asta and Nero but they pass it as a lie like they wanted Asta’s version of what happened. since Finral knew that Julius was never wrong, he went with them despite the mage keep saying they didn’t need him but you don’t argue with Finral when he is serious. At mid-way, Asta interrupted their walk and said they could stop all of this charade and put on him the shackles they were hiding, Nero did the same thing than Asta. The mage stutered he didn’t know what they were talking about but the harsh and piercing gaze that the older child of Ledior gave him was enough to convince him that the jig was up.

- When they arrived at the building where the trial was happening, the mage that accompany the trio told the assembly that the suspects didn’t resist and told him to put the shackles. Whispering spread among the nobles, wondering if it was a trick from the boy until they saw that Finral was there. They didn’t know if they should be reassured or worried.

“Finral, what are you doing here ?”

“Of course you’ll be there, father.” muttered the spatial mage. “Isn’t it obvious ? I’m here to defend Asta.”

“Asta ? But that’s.... His name is Asta ? Just like...”

“Yes, just like the boy I considered as my little brother when I was a prisoner from the Dark Triad because... Oh, I don’t know ? Maybe because this is the same boy that fucking protected me during these horrible years and that you’re going to judge and try to execute because you all decided he would do a fine scapegoat while it isn’t his fault if what happened a few days ago happened ! Does it happen to use you goddman brain sometimes ? Before this whole trial starts, can I say something that you should take in consideration ?” Everyone was listening to him “How the fuck could he be behind the Eye of the Midnight Sun and the whole destruction of the city when he was himself at Spade under the sharp scrutiny of the Dark Triad that won’t let him leave the castle unless he was with one of them ?”

“Do you... need water ?” asked Asta.

“If someone has water on him then yes I would like to have water.”

- No one spoke not even the king or Sekke until Damnatio Kira come, Asta heard Finral muttering something along the lines of always a pleasure to see the bastard face and Asta hold back his laugh before to do a fake cough and became serious again as he faced the one who would judged him. He showed his scale to prove that Asta was devil possessed then turned to Nero and point her horns, proving she used forbidden magic which was one of the reason there city was destroyed but also there was no proof of her existence before. Asta and Finral decided to be both little shits and pointed that one Nero’s real name was Secre Swallowtail, a servant who was working with Prince Lemiel Silvamillion Clover also known as the First Wizard King so they should find something under this name that would prove her existence even if it’s something little. Then, they pointed that since Damnatio’s scale were something used also for his magic so who said he wasn’t tricking it with his magic so he can gain the favor of the nobles and execute Asta because they were scared of the nature of his power rather than admit that a peasant with no magic was the one to deal the final blow to the devil named Zagred, the one they killed in the Shadow Palace.

- Ledior didn’t know if he should facepalmed or encourage his son’s behavior during this important trial. He weight the pros and the cons and deciding that he should support his son instead of doing the wrong thing. Liliane was also there and she couldn’t believe what her husband was doing. She started screaming things like how her Langris-chan will be more corrupted by his own family if they continued to act like this then she started pulling at her husband’s arm, trying to make him come bact at the reason. Finral ignored them, denying them at his parents and Asta patted him on the back as much as he could despite his hands were restrained.

- Damnatio saw he wouldn’t win this part so he asked the mages to bring someone. Finral’s blood ran cold and if he thought that his hatred for the Triad was great then he realized he was wrong, he never despised someone so much like Damnatio when he saw Gauche’s little sister, Marie Adlai, being brought, scared. He was starting to lose the control on his spatial magic, he knew it very well but he didn’t care. They wanted to play with his feelings ? Very well however they are going to regret to have play with fire. The moment that bastard of Damnatio do a mistake, he is going to tear him apart and shredd him into pieces. He could feel antimagic rising behind him meaning Asta was on board with his plan. The judge start talking about how her eye magic was very powerful and destroy multiple building. Finral laughed in the middle of his speech and counter attack.

“You fucking said it yourself ! Forbidden magic was used on elves and humans and now you are contradicting yourself by pointing how a little girl that still doesn’t have her grimoire could destroy buildings and put in danger citizens. She was under the control of a reincarnated elves and the reincarnation spell is forrbidden magic, a spell that was used by the devil we beat and killed ! In fact, it wasn’t her fault and since the elves are using natural mana then obviously their magic and their power receive a huge boost. Now, please tell me, does anyone can feel a huge power in her or you are so lazy that your mana detection became weak !? No, I don’t think so ! Now that this has been settle, I think our presence is not-”

- One of the wall was destroyed and a mage was bleeding and died. Finral immediately went at the side of Marie and brought her where she should be safe. Everyone was now on their guardand the king Augustus was asking who did that, who dared to interrupt. Something red was rushing on the king and if it wasn’t for Asta fast reflex then the king would have died. He was yelling and asking for help because he had blood on him but Sekke managed to put some sense on him and told him he wasn’t bleeding. There was a huge source of mana approaching them but what made scared everyone was that Finral didn’t hesitate to take his sword in his hands, Asta broke the shackles that was restraining him before to pass immediately in his Black mode and Damnatio scale were tipping even greater when it was in the direction of the hole that has been created in the building.

“Damnatio guy... Evacuate everyone now before more people dies.”

“I do not take orders from a devil like you.”

“Then would you take orders from a magic knight like me who ask you to do what he says ?”

“Finral... Whats going on ?”

“I don’t have the time to explain things to you but you need to go now. This place is going to become a true battlefield if I’m not wrong on the identity of the mage who’s approaching. Nero, I need you to bring back Marie to her brother and alert the Wizard King immediately. Tell him to contact the captains of all the squads that can fight and rely this message: the new threat is here.”

“The new threat ?”

“Yooooouuuuuhoooouuuuu...”

“Shit, that’s really her. Big bro Finral you’re ready ?”

“Asta, I was training for this moment.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“You seem to be happy to see me. I’m glad the feeling is reciprocated, Asta-kun, Finral-kun.”

- Finral flipped his hand to open a huge portal below everyone feets so there won’t be more victims from Vanica’s desire to fight. He knew where he teleported them so he knew there will be safe. Vanica could see they wanted to fight against her so she would have no other choice to fight them and beat them before to bring them back to Spade.

- The fight was violent, the building of the magic parliament was reduced into nothingness in mere minutes. They didn’t know who was doing the most damage but none of them care about this: Vanica was having the best fight of her life and Asta and Finral were surpassing their limits like they never did. She was having so much fun that she used her devil power as much as she could (70% I think). They were having a hard time but what they didn’t know was Nero was still there in her bird form and she decided to wait for a good opportunity before to seal Vanica and her devil power. However Asta felt something waking up inside Vanica.

“Nero, get the fuck out of here and go warn the ot-”

- Explosion happens which caught the attention of Langris and Yuno but also the attention of the Black Bulls who were trying to understand why many nobles appeared in the city. Fuck the nobles, they were worried for their teammates so they went at the building. They weren’t ready to see Finral on the ground, half unconscious and unable to move, Nero not that far from him. Langris was the first one to join his brother when he saw him, followed by Vanessa. Yuno was searching Asta, he was scared for him. But everyone got a “oh shit...” reaction when Luck started trembling and said he didn’t want to stay here, there was someone too dangerous.

“So this is what humans who used forbidden magic can do ? Impressive ! I would like to see... more of your powers, to study them.”

“Aaaawwwww, Megicula, look what you did ! Finral-kun can’t stand up anymore ! You ruined my fun.”

“Not... do... et...”

- Yuno stopped breathing when he saw Asta being on his knees and covered by the same substance than Finral. As for Vanica and Megicula, their eyes were glinting, interested in Asta and how he was slowly rising from the ground, antimagic cancelling the mini curse. The second horn appeared, surprising everyone, Megicula included because she didn't expected that. The devil in the grimoire is suppose to be a low ranked devil not an high one. Brainstorming happening in the curse-wander devil mind while Vanica is hyped for the second part of their fight. Yami and Yuno went 'nope' and attacked her from behind which she didn't like at all because they were nobodies to her although she might be interested in Yami due to Yami's magic but this is not today's goal.

"Don't be so impatient to create a better world where only the strongest humans would stay alive. Big bro Dante will come for you later. As for you, the one with golden eyes, you can die."

- Like Asta is going to let Vanica killed Yuno. To protect him and bring Vanica focus on him, he suddenly appeared, kicked Yuno in the stomach and tried to slam Vanica and Megicula. Key word tried. He ends up in a blood prison protected by a curse. Since he is weakened by Megicula little curse, he has to up his game and reveal his ace if he can call it like this. He talked with his devil, asking him if he's ready and he got a thumb-up but also reminds him something.

"I need to take your right arm and your eyes"

"I forgot that part..."

"How could you forget that part when we already discussed of this when we met, shorty !?"

- The blood prison is destroyed, antimagic is leaking and Asta's arm turned into a demonic arm and unlike canon there's not the ten seconds thing. Also black veins appeared around his eyes, eyes who becomes red instead of green. The reason is simple: he made antimagic flowed in his arm and eyes to get them used. At the beginning, his body didn't handle it well as it was weak. Then the trembling came and lasted a good three years until it disappeared and that neither his arm or eyes hurt him badly. He hide this for three years to the Triad and wonders how he wasn't caught. He isn't going to complain especially when the part of Vanica's body that Megicula controlled understood what he was doing and what it implied. It was totally worth it.

"All the power you display until now... That was without a contract with his devil."

"Asta-kun didn't have... a contract with his devil ?" A few seconds of silence before a crazy laugh from Vanica resonate. She rushed towards Asta. "This fight is truly the best. Lolopechika-chan gave a good fight and I want to fight her again because I thought she was the best. But I was wrong ! Asta-kun is truly the best !"

"What did you do the queen of the Heart kingdom !?"

"I cursed her because Megicula wanted to test something. But let's not care about that for now ! Let's fight !"

- No one can actually help Asta except Yami who's very careful to not being hit while using his dark magic to do long ranged attacks. At this point, Vanica doesn't care because Asta is keeping with her strength and antimagic immediately wipe out any curse she's using. Finral looked at the fight with a smile. Yuno is frustrated because he is totally useless, he is still mad at Finral who hide him he knew Asta but now he understood why. Yuno was sure he would have run towards Spade the moment he knew Asta was alive but captive however he would have died the second he put a foot in this country.

- After long minutes of clashing, Asta had finally an opportunity to pierce Vanica and Megicula with his dweller sword because the host was becoming less and less careful. The moment the dweller sword was through Vanica's body, her devil power disappeared and she fell when the sword was out. Yami ruffled Asta's hair, he was proud of this midget that Finral appreciate a lot. He knew the story but seeing Asta in action was a diferent thing. Nozel and Fuegoleon finally arrived on the place of the battlefield. When Yami explained what happened, both Finral and Asta noticed the captain of the Silver Eagles tensed at the mention of Megicula. However they didn't question it.

- Despite being on ground, Vanica was still conscious and excited to fight again, she wanted more. Fuegoleon put restraints on her so she can't escape. But it wasn't over...

- Everyone except for Asta are being held on a wall in the air by an invisible strength even the captains. The captains and Langris who had seen Finral's memories knew who it was as they recognized the gravity magic. As for Asta, h turned slowly his head to look at Dante, who acted all mighty from the air but Asta would be a fool if he ignored the hatred the older Zogratis have that he hide behind a smile.

" Hi... Dante-nii..."

"Look at the state you are in, Vanica."

"A good bath can clean it. Besides it was totally worth it. Asta-kun is really strong even after doing his first contract with his devil. Can you believe it ? I force him to do a contract with his devil !"

"Interesting... I guess the contract is about the arm and those veins. But we are going to talk about it later. For now..."

- Dante used Lucifero's magic to slam Asta against the ground, he knew the youngest was too tired to use antimagic but just in case he put his foot on the back of Asta, ignoring the shouting from the Clover's mages. Asta asked to antima if he has an idea to get them out of this situation and the answer was no. Asta sighed so he decided to talk.

"You said that my devil was a low rank one compare to yours, right ? Well, I think it's time for a reevaluation of his skills and rank. We killed a devil named Zagred who had word soul magic. After he got a real body and a fifth leaf grimoire."

"What a disgrace for our kind... Even after he got everything any of us dreams to have..." said Lucifero even though he didn't show up. But that was enough to scare everyone.

"It doesn't change our plans. Another higher devil can take his place, after all this is how it works. But let's get back to the real business... Why did you left Spade ? As far as I know, we treat you well and didn't hurt you when we took you under our wings."

- Asta had to hold back a laugh. Did he really thought that devil's host should hang out and share the same ideals ? Besides, shouldn't Dante have a good picture of how Asta react in specific situation ? I mean I did mention Dante was having discussions late at night, with Asta to understand why he was so different of them, a game of chess between them. (Yes, I am picturing sexual predator Dante Zogratis and good boi Asta of Clover kingdom playing chess, a fire near them and trying to have a good picture of the psychology of each other late at night.) But Asta still stated the obvious with a few words while also pointing that Spade didn't need help since the siblings were there, happy to kill people who were possessed by elves.

"I wanted to see if your actions were in accord with your words as it's the best way to test the true value of people. Now that's done, we need to go back in Spade. Clover doesn't need your help anymore as they wanted to get rid of you as soon as they learn you were devil possessed and Vanica needs healing. Zenon will join us later, I gave him a mission and soon Diamond will be in our hands."

"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'LL TAKE ASTA ??? HIS HOME IS HERE, NOT WITH A GODDAMN PSYCHOPATH LIKE YOU !"

"You're going to take that as a compliment ?"

"I am indeed taking this as a compliment. And he knows you, does it mean you know him as well ?"

- Yuno was going to reply yes but the way Dante glared at him make him fear the worst for Asta's life so he doesn't say anything. As for Asta, he bites his inferior lip, it's a yes or a no answer he has to give. Dante could have left Clover kingdom with him and Vanica before anyone could have done something. But why did he decide to stay ? It's the devil that answers him and he admits it, he is dumb.

"Cut the bulshit, Zogratis, we bo-"

"Which one ?" shouts Vanica

"*sigh* Dante, we both know how it's going to end whether I say yes or no. All you want to see is if my actions are accord with my words. You want to witness if I can hold, shove and keep my negative emotions when you will leave him in a state of death if no one can heal him. Either way, one of us will prove his point and it's not me, we know it."

- Everyone was looking, captivated and bewildered by the words of Asta. Langris will not hide the "wtf" he let go because this is... Crazy. The amount of madness and chaos he is looking at, it's too much. He looked at his brother, hoping he could see a sign that this is just a dream. In fact, everyone looks at Finral, the only one who didn't try to free himself from the gravity magic and when they saw his deadpan expression, they knew it was reality.

- We continue with the trend of "Asta being picked up like he is some kind of dog" (yes, I am referring to how Julius and Nacht held Asta when they mysteriously appeared out of nowhere) but Dante is the one to pick up Asta while he is holding Vanica with his other arm like she was a baby. The blood mage waved at everyone, as a promise they'll meet again before they leave.

- Finral knows Dante's magic disappear when he was far away or even back to Spade kingdom but they had no time to waste. He snapped out everyone and barked orders: Vanessa, Magna and Luck are going discreetly Diamond to see the situation, they need to go in Heart to see if the queen is okay so Noelle will have to grill Mimosa on how they could get there, Fuegoleon and Nozel needs to report everything that happened here to the Wizard King.

"And you need to see Owen. That fight with that creepy blood mage put you in the worst state I ever saw you to be in, Finral." Interrupted Yami

"Nero needs to see him too."

"I'll bring her for you, my friend."

"Thanks Gordon."

“You also need to be fucking PUNCHED !!!!”

- Finral snapped his fingers and a portal appeared below him, Langris, Nero and Gordon which teleported them to Owen before Yuno could reach them. Yami knocked him out, he needs to know the truth but not before he calmed down and that Finral is okay. But there’s one thing he is sure of: they’ll have to surpass their limits to beat these guys.

#Black Clover #finral roulacase staria au #finral roulacase #black clover asta #yami sukehiro #vanica zogratis #black clover vanica #Dante zogratis #black clover dante #black clover zagred #black clover langris #this part of the au is half crack half real shit #I just realized while re-reading the whole thing #maybe not the best part but i have fun with it #not as much that the black bulls meeting Finral #but hey we can't always have fluff in this #and yes for me Dante is a person that doesn't like to have is plans happening in different steps #first it's keeping Asta and making sure he reach the level they need him to achieve so they can start slowly to open the door to hell #if he can't until the time to kidnapp Yami and William is arriving then it's nothing #they'll just go with the original plan which is to use dark and worldtree magic #and if they can get Finral too #then bonus point #Vanica will be happy to have Finral back #even if he can't open the door to the Underworld to let devils enter the human realm #They'er keeping Asta because he is devil possessed #and they're keeping Finral because Azazel (In my opinion it's Zenon's devil the guy needs a name) is a curious devil #Especially when spatial magic is the matter of the discussion

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talpup · 5 years ago

Text

Lost Song: 3

Summary: The war between the Dragons and Griffons ended 233 years ago, and both races right along with it.

Or so it was believed. There are three individuals that will soon change that.

Kai is the last of the Dragons and he seeks to take what he sees as his rightful place and rule over all of Oblvi. Meanwhile, Shouta, the last Sphinx, wants nothing more than to do his job; keep the peace and and teach the young Fourth’s to hopefully avoid the mistakes of their ancestors. And Teris, a Foundling who is just trying to understand and survive in this strange new world that is supposedly her own.

All three have their own wants and desires, but Kai’s plans, Teris’ existence, and Shouta's past mean that none of them may get what they want.

This fic is rated explicit and has warnings of sex, violence, and other possible triggers.

If you prefer reading off AO3 here’s the link for that: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24009679/chapters/58115158

3.1

“Director.”

Nedzu paused in the hallway just outside his office. “Aizawa. It’s a little early. Even for someone as dedicated as you.” The Director saw Teris struggling to keep up with Shouta's longer steps as the Sphinx made his way closer. “Teris. Good morning. I hope you found your new residence to your liking.”

“The place is fine. The company on the other hand--”

“Don’t.” Shouta cut in, not in the mood to hear any more of her sullen offense.

He had somehow fallen asleep despite last nights troubling epiphany. Score one for exhaustion. But upon waking up he had been even more ill at ease. Showered and dressed, he had woken Teris.

Not having followed her out of his rooms last night he hadn’t known which chambers she picked as her own. Rather than knocking on doors till he found her, he had simply entered each.

Shouta smirked into his capture weapon at the memory of Teris’ temper of the intrusion. He pulse quickened recalling the image of her. Hair mussed. Scowling. Topless. Covers thrown off in her sleep, showing perfect long legs and a lacy pair of black panties.

He cleared his throat. “Sir. I need to speak with you. It’s important.”

“Of course.” Nedzu said brightly.

The Director entered his office.

Shouta paused at the door.

Teris halted almost bumping into him.

“Stay here.”

“What? Why?” She demanded.

“Because I said so.” Shouta rumbled eyeing her over his shoulder.

“If I’m just gonna stand out here, then why did you bring me at all?” Teris questioned thinking how she was eager to get to Kai and start learning.

Because you’re a Griffon and I wasn’t about to let you enter that Dragon’s den, Shouta thought. You might be a tiresome, angry, prideful nuisance; but you’re mine. Part of my Ilca, he quickly corrected the self thought. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go to Kai for lessons until I’m sure Nedzu knows what you are and has good reason for sending you there.

“Just stay put.” Shouta clipped.

Teris blinked at the door sharply shut in her face. She growled, making at face at the now gone Sphinx. She had only known Aizawa for less than twelve hours but she hated him. He was rude. Passively and full on aggressive. Arrogant. Bossy. Handsome. Smelled nice. No wait. She went back to rude and started the mental list over again.

Seated inside the Director of Traverseen Hall’s office, Nedzu offered. “Tea?”

“No. Thank you.”

“How are you and your new Ilca members getting along?”

“Not well.” Shouta answered honestly.

“Well, you’re use to being alone and they’re new. Only just a few days ago they probably thought themselves normal humans. Living in Terra, with no knowledge of our world or Fourth's.”

“She’s a griffon.”

Nedzu set down the tea pot. “Well that didn’t take you long. And to think I gave you the shortest time of at least a month to figure it out.”

“So you knew.” Of course he knew, Shouta thought. The Fourth’s that thought Hybrids less than simply had look at Nedzu to have their faulty thinking debunked. The Director’s lineage might have been so muddled he wasn’t capable of human form; but he was of superior intellect to any other species Shouta knew.

Nedzu nodded. “As does Elder Yagi and Arbitrator Todoroki.”

“And that’s all? No one else knows?”

“Other than you. Well… There is Shuzenji and Twice. But that was unavoidable. Nagual’s and House Elves are connected to the places they serve, and with Traverseen Hall being built for griffons…”

Shouta nodded. He couldn’t say if he was relieved or angered that the Council hadn’t been informed. He was certainly furious that he hadn’t been told.

“May I ask how you realized what she was so quickly? As far as we’re aware she doesn’t know, and has yet to display her true form.”

“There were a few things. But the one that secured it was Twice. House Elf called her Mistress.” Shouta said not wanting to explain the events of last night that had riled Teris up enough to cause a hinting of her true features.

Nedzu sighed and shook his head. “I told him to be more mindful.” He looked at Shouta almost pleading. “You have to understand. This is a very sensitive and dangerous thing. If the Council learned what she was--”

“They would put her down.” Shouta finished, distantly.

He remembered the Council wanting to do the same to him after he had been discovered. How the Tree Spirit that had happened upon him had saved his life not once but twice. First His Purple Highness had found him; spelled and buried beneath the rubble of his packs ruined home. Then the Dryad King had convinced the fearful Council to let him live.

Even now the Council watched him carefully, though not as carefully as they watched Kai. They were concerned. Worried that he would seek retribution for the mass genocide of his species that the dragons and griffons had ordered. The mass killing of sphinx's who had been guilty of nothing other than wanting no part in a war that had embroiled every other species of Fourth.

“Exactly.” Nedzu said.

Shouta blinked away the memory of the angry, fearful Council of Elders that had shouted and pointed at his younger self declaring he shouldn’t exist. That the sphinx's had been wiped out. And that he had to die to secure the tentative peace they were working so hard to build.

Shouta’s hands closed into fists. He wasn’t a danger to the Council. But if they discovered Teris was a griffon and called for her head he would become one. He would fight anyone who threatened her and her existence. She was his. A member of his Ilca, he corrected.

“The Council cannot know.” Shouta stated firmly.

“No. Not yet.” Nedzu agreed.

“Not yet?”

“Why do you think I have ordered Kai to instruct her?”

Shouta silenced a growl at the mere mention of the Dragons name.

Yes. Dragons and griffon’s had both ordered the extermination of his species when the sphinx's, just as ancient and powerful as them, had refused to choose a side in their war. But it was dragons who had attacked his home and killed his pack.

Shouta had been so young that he didn’t remember anything of his past before being found. Only a shout of warning that a clan of dragons and their servants were attacking. And the few terrifying moments where he had been made to crawl between a small crevice of rocks, while the roars and shouts of his pack fighting and dying echoed in the distance. He couldn’t even remember the face of his mother or father. Just the face of what had surely been a Gargoyle; because that was the only logical way the Fourth would have been able to preform the stoning spell that had seen him locked in stasis. He would stay that way for more than two-hundred years until the day His Purple Highness happened upon him.

Shouta looked across the desk at Nedzu. “You think that having Kai instruct her without knowing what she is will create some sort of tie. A care or friendship that will make him disregard the fact that she’s a griffon when it’s learned.”

“Yes.”

The Sphinx shook his head. “Kai will not forgive or forget. To him she’s an enemy. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Kai and Teris are not enemies. Neither battled in the war. We don’t know her full story yet, but unlike you, Kai wasn’t even alive back then. His egg was found and hatched long after the Fall of Crowns.”

Shouta knew the story. How one of the Elder’s on the Council had found a dragon egg and took it upon himself to secretly set the right conditions for it to hatch. Though Shouta himself had still been a young-ling at the time, he wouldn’t have given the egg life. He wouldn’t have smashed it. Unlike dragons, he wasn’t a murderer. But just because he refused to kill, didn’t mean he would afford life.

He huffed at the Director’s hopeful foolishness. “It won’t work.”

“You don’t know that.”

Shouta sat forward, dark eyes sharpening. “I know. And so do you. Or at least you suspect. I know for a fact that you watch Kai even more closely than the Council does.”

“And yet I have found no proof of misdeed.”

“Only because you haven’t looked hard enough.” Shouta muttered.

“Do you think I would endanger the last griffon if I had even a hint of circumstantial evidence that Kai was up to something? Trying to reclaim the lost dragon throne?”

“The only proof you need is that he’s a dragon. There are things about the species that can’t be changed. A dragons need to rule above all else is one of them. Even if Kai wanted to fight it. Which he doesn’t. He wouldn’t be able to. It’s in his nature.”

“I think your history is clouding your judgment.”

“My history is clouding nothing. It gives me clarity. Makes sure I remember what you and the Council seem so keen to forget.”

“You think you’re the only one that lost in the war? Did you forget who I was held and tested on by?”

Though the Director’s voice hadn’t be sharp, Shouta lowered his head.

“You weren’t the only one who suffered at the hands and claws of dragon kind. At least you have the good fortune of limited memory. I was old enough to remember every moment. Every cut. Every test.” Nedzu hopped off the chair and came around the desk to stand before the Sphinx. “You’re right. I don’t trust Kai. But I hope. Hope he can and will do better than those he came from. For Teris’ sake, you should hope the same.”

Shouta's head lifted, mouth opening.

“The order stays. She’s to be instructed by Kai.”

The Sphinx’s shoulders tensed, back straightening as he gave one last ditch effort to deter the Hybrid from this course of action. “She’s part of my Ilca.”

“Aizawa. I don’t want to argue. And neither do you. We both want what is best for her. If she is to be allowed to live, you better hope that Kai and she get along. That once he learns she’s a griffon, he will look passed it. It is the only way we will be able to convince the Council not to extinguish her life.”

3.2

Tense with wary unease, Hari entered his Leader’s office. “Kai. You have a visitor.”

“I’m not here to visit.” Shouta gruffed, stepping passed the Arepyiai and into the Dragons lair.

At Aizawa's rough deep timber, Kai’s hand stopped its writing. His eyes sharpened even as the words on the page in front of him unfocused. It was a good thing he had ordered his Ilca to be mindful even within the confines of the dorm yesterday. Surely the keen eyed Sphinx would have seen or heard his men give away some thread that could be pulled to unravel his plans of supremacy.

Teris entered, scowling at Shouta as she passed him to stop before Kai’s desk.

Shouta's hand twitched. He had to restrain himself from grabbing and pulling Teris back from the Dragon. Kai was dangerous to all life he didn’t think he could rule. And with Teris being a griffon…

“Sorry I’m late. I would’ve been on time if it weren’t for Aizawa's insistence that I follow and wait for him.”

Shouta’s teeth pressed together at Teris’ complaint. Did she think he had enjoyed his mostly sleepless night of worry as he waited for morning? That taking the time to meet and speak with Nedzu had been something he had done for himself? He hadn’t let her come straight to Kai’s for her sake and safety. Even now he was making himself late to class just so he could be sure she was safe and Kai understood that she was his. Damn it! That she was part of his Ilca and under his care.

Shouta glared at Teris wondering how he could both detest and want to protect someone so much? Though they had just met, it was understandable why he disliked her. Teris was a thankless, insufferable woman. But the urge to claim and protect? Shouta blamed it on the Ilca tie. The way it could effect a Fourth’s mental to make a bind weakly similar to that of a pack.

Kai turned to Teris, gold eyes slowly gliding up her body. She was even more proud and perfect than the first time he saw her.

Dark gaze on Kai, Shouta's upper lip twitched, the heckles on the back of his neck rising slightly.

Setting down the writing quill, Kai focused on the unwelcomed Sphinx. “You didn’t need to escort her, Aizawa. I made sure Teris knew exactly how to find me.”

“As do I.” Shouta told.

Kai’s fingers curled at the subtle threat. “You can seek me out anytime, Aizawa. I’ll be ready.”

Hari straightened, muscles tensing, prepared to defend and die for his Leader if the Sphinx attacked.

But Kai knew better. As much at they hated each other. Neither the Sphinx or Dragon would lash out in violence. They both had too much to lose.

Giving a taught taunting smile, Kai went on. “But until you have what it takes, I suggest you leave. We both have pupils to teach. And you’ve already cut into Teris’ time of learning.”

“If anything happens to her--”

“What would happen to her?” Kai questioned, over the Sphinx. “Just what kind of lessons do you think I’ll be teaching her?”

Nothing good, Shouta thought. “I’ll be watching.”

“So nothing new.” Kai needled.

He had been watched his entire life. In the beginning it had made him feel like a death row zoo animal. But as he had grown, Kai had learned to ignore the ax the Council had over his head, ready to snuff out his life at one wrong move. Over the years those still loyal to dragon kind had sought him out, infiltrating into positions that would serve and protect him. Those welcome and willing servants had made sure he not only survived within the Council’s constraints, but thrived, allowing him to draw ever closer to his rightful throne.

Shouta glowered. He knew the Dragon was up to no good. That Kai wanted to rebuild what was lost and rule. But he had no proof. “I expect her back an hour before sundown.”

“You’ll get her back when I send her back.” Kai told, muscles in his neck and jaw jerking in effort to battle down a growl.

Though successful, there was still a biting sharpness to his voice that made Teris tense.

Both the Sphinx and Dragon responded to her unease. Shouta stepped protectively closer. While Kai’s hand slid over the desktop toward her.

Forcing his tone to settle, Kai went on. “And you need not escort her each day, Aizawa. Teris will find her way to me. I’ve made sure of it.”

“I’ll escort and do whatever else I wish with her. She’s mi—my Ilca.”

Kai’s golden eyes turned molten.

Shouta silently cursed the near slip, blaming his lack of sleep.

Teris spun around, glaring at the black haired Sphinx. “You most certainly will not! I’m my own person. And if you think for a moment that I’ll tolerate you barging into my rooms each morning, ordering me about, just to make me wait outside Nedzu’s office while you--”

“Nedzu?” Kai cut in. His flash of interest turned smug as he looked back at Shouta. “You had a meeting with the Director this morning? Was it about me?”

“Not everything is about you, Chisaki.”

“Of course not, Aizawa. Just most everything.”

Shouta stole a look at Teris as he turned his back on the Dragons taunting smile. “Before sundown, Chisaki.”

“If I’m finished with her.” Kai called after him.

Without a word Hari followed Shouta to see the Sphinx out.

Kai found himself strangely disappointed that the office doors were left open. He told himself it was because hearing them close would have bothered Aizawa to no end. It had nothing to do with him wanting a further sense of intimacy with Teris. He had just met her. And though he might've thought she had been a dragon for an instant during their first meeting, she wasn’t. So why then was there an undeniable jealous anger still bubbling inside him at Aizawa's barely avoided admission that he had already claimed her?

Burying the curious emotion, Kai fixed his gaze on the beautiful Beast. “Forgive me if I startled you with my temper or came off as controlling. It’s only that with someone like Aizawa, it’s necessary to remind that he doesn’t command everything. No doubt you’ve already seen glimpses of his possessive, domineering nature.”

Teris glanced back at the open doors Shouta had marched through. “I don’t know about his nature but he’s been nothing but rude and overbearing thus far.”

“It’s an act. Something he does to make up for the coward he truly is.”

Teris turned back at Kai. She might've thought Aizawa many unsavory things already, but a coward wasn’t one. Then again she had only just met him.

“It can’t be helped. All sphinx's are.”

“I thought he was the last?”

“The last for good reason.” Kai said, thinking that if Aizawa ever threatened him again, he would personally finish what dragon and griffon kind started, and expunge the final sphinx from existence. “But that’s a lesson for another day. I have some books for you to read. Sit quietly and do so while I work.”

Teris arched an eyebrow, her defying question clear.

Normally Kai would've been irritated by any hint of disagreement; but for some reason he thrilled at her silent challenge. “Surely you’re self-sufficient enough to do that.”

“Self-sufficient enough to do so in the comfort of my own dorm.”

“And chance dealing with Aizawa if he returns for lunch?” Calculated as the leading question was, Kai told himself it was because Nedzu would cause problems if he didn’t keep and instruct her. He was pleased when Teris bristled at the thought, unaware that the Sphinx rarely ever took a proper lunch. “You clearly don’t like him. Any particular reason why?”

“Several.”

“Did it have to do with the oath he made you swear to join his Ilca?”

“Oath?”

“When new Ilca members are accepted there’s a swearing. It’s part of the bind that links the members together. The Leader states what’s expected. Usually something simple and unoriginal like being loyal to the Ilca and upholding the law.”

Teris’ eyebrows knitted together, head shaking. “Aizawa didn’t ask us to swear anything.”

“It’s done at the dorms main doors. Before you enter as Ilca members.” Kai prodded.

Teris thought back and shook her head again. “No. There was no oath or ask for one. All Aizawa said was welcome and he accepts us or something.”

Kai scoffed. The Sphinx was even more artless than he gave him credit for. Kai remembered the vow he had demanded each of his Ilca members make. To put his life and plans above all else, and be willing to die for his efforts, viewing their lives as expendable if it meant saving his or securing his aims. Aizawa could have demanded the same loyalty and devotion; but instead the Sphinx had required nothing.

“I suppose that’s a good thing.” Kai murmured more to himself. “It means Aizawa's hold is all the more limited.”

“Hold!” Teris echoed.

“There’s no need to worry.” Kai assured. “Aizawa foolishly asked nothing of you when you joined his Ilca. Even if he’s claimed you, there’s nothing he could demand of you.”

“Claimed? Like... on a personal level?” The idea of the aloof, abrupt Aizawa being so affected by someone that he claimed them seemed unlikely.

“As I said. There’s no need to worry. Now. Why don’t you get to reading. I’ll quiz you during lunch and then, the real lessons can begin.”

3.3

“Aizawa!” Oboro called.

With a whoosh of air and smell of ozone, the Venti was suddenly down the long hallway and in front of the Sphinx.

Shouta sighed. He couldn’t understand why Oboro insisted on trying to be friends with him when everyone else hated him simply for what his was. A part of him was certain Nemuri had something to do with it, Oboro not only being in her Ilca, but one of her two boyfriends. Yet she clearly hadn’t told Kan to do the same. So he wasn’t sure.

Shouta came to a halt, tempted to walked around the Venti but knew evasion was futile. “Where’s Yamada Hizashi?”

“Aw! Look at you! Concerned and protective of your Ilca already. I knew your were a big softy, Shouta.”

“Will you--” Shouta’s hissing command to tell Oboro to shut up and lower his voice cut off. Ignoring a passing group of students he assured the Venti. “That’s not it.”

With a jerk of his chin, Oboro answered the Sphinx’s query. “He’s right behind you. Just not as fast as me.”

Reaching the two, Hizashi puffed out of breath from the dash. “You’re fast!”

“Wind Spirit!” Oboro grinned.

Hizashi turned to Shouta, eyes and smile just as bright and shining as Oboro’s. “Shou!”

Great. There were two of them now, Shouta thought.

“I can call you Shou right? Oboro said it was fine.”

“Well if Oboro said it.” Shouta grumbled.

“Awesome!” Hizashi beamed.

No. That wasn’t what he meant. Shouta's mouth opened, but Hizashi had already moved on.

“Oboro said I’m probably half elf. Isn’t that cool!”

Shouta’s dark eyes rolled to the white haired Venti. “What was your first clue? The slightly pointed ears?”

“Yeah!” Oboro exclaimed.

Shouta studied Oboro a moment, unsure if his response was genuine or mocking. “Did you at least tell him he’s likely High Elf?”

“High Elf?” Hizashi and Oboro rang out in unison.

Literally bouncing with excitement, Hizashi asked. “What’s a High Elf?”

“What makes you say that?” Oboro questioned.

Shouta sighed. So much for catching a nap during lunch. At least with the two around it would help deter and distract him from the urge to go check on Teris during the break.

3.4

Kai was actually enjoying himself. Seated in a private dining room of the Ilca dorm, he quizzed Teris. Over the course of their lunch he had discovered she wasn’t just a pretty, young beast of ancient and powerful heritage. She had sharp mind and quick wit. Not only had his pupil retained everything she had read this morning; but she asked intelligent questions that would lead to new and better understanding.

He wondered why Aizawa and the others that taught the Ilca course at Traverseen Hall complained so much. Teaching was easy. If they faced difficulty in their job, it was either because Traverseen Hall was too accepting in who they allowed in the course. Or the instructors themselves were lacking.

“Tell me about Pieces?” Kai questioned, knee and part of his thigh brushing hers under the small, round table. Though she didn’t move against him, she didn’t pull back like the first time their legs had touched. Her acceptance had his heart hammering so hard it drummed in his ears drowning out the first part of her answer.

“Pieces. The shortened and more commonly used term for ‘Piece of Their Person’. When the four divisions. Beast, Demon, Spirit, and Sprite. Agreed to meet to try and work out a peace that would end the first great war of Oblvi called the War of Divisions, the Beast and Demon Kings thought it prudent that no weapons be allowed at the talks. But members of the Spirit and Sprite councils feared for their Kings if they attended unarmed.”

“And rightly so. Any beast or demon would have the advantage against any spirit or spite.”

“Any?” Teris questioned.

Begrudgingly, Kai was forced to amend. “So long as the fight wasn’t on the spirit or sprites claimed territory. But even then, so long as the beast was capable they would win. Beasts are the superior division of Fourth's.”

Teris frowned, but didn’t argue. How could she? As far as she knew the only spirit or sprite she had meet was Hizashi. Still, Kai’s claim made her uncomfortable, whether it was true or not.

Ignoring the unease, she went on. “It was finally agreed that they would come in their human forms and have the meeting place spelled so they couldn’t return to their true forms while there. The four rulers also agreed that they and their entourage would be allow to carry a single item of their choosing for protection. This item would be thought of as a piece of a Fourth's person, hence the name. And the act of trying to forcibly take or demand the removal of that item would be viewed the same as the taking of a limb. After the War of Divisions the allowance of a single item being stylized as a Piece of Their Person, along with the rules of non-removal remained. At first the item Fourth’s carried and called their piece changed depending on situation. But as time went on the standard became a single item that once chosen could not be changed.”

“Excellent.” Kai’s leg stretched out, foot hooking under her ankle. “Now let’s see if you can theorize half as well as you can memorize. Tell me. Why does the Council foolishly view pieces as a troublesome hindrance to peace and order when they are a right of vital importance?”

“Uh…” Teris blinked. Her mind sifted through what she had learned and what little she knew of the Council and this world. It would've been easier to think if Kai’s leg wasn’t touching hers, the coolness of his body making hers feel heated. “Because Fourth's are now able to take something off of their true form and use it while in human form.”

Kai expression hardened a fraction. “Are you asking or telling me?”

“Telling?”

Kai’s eyes narrowed.

Teris quickly thought over her response and repeated with more certainty. “Telling.”

Kai’s hand came to rest on the table, a hairs breath from hers. “Good. When Fourth's first began carrying pieces human forms were the exception, not the norm. Back then they had very limited abilities when in human form. Because of that, most pieces were potions, protective amulets, or hand held weapons such as swords. Things able to assist in a fight while in human form. But during the last two ages our human forms have grown in strength and endurance. It has allowed many to be able to literally take a piece off of their true form and make use of it.”

“I don’t--” Teris shook her head not understanding.

“You’ve seen Aizawa's piece. The capture weapon he wears around his neck?”

She nodded.

“Arbitrator Todoroki’s piece is a claw from his true form. With it, he is able to harness many of his true forms abilities. In a battle between Aizawa and Todoroki, who do you think would win?”

“Based simply on their pieces. Todoroki.”

“Exactly. Only pure bloods of older, superior species are able to take a part of themselves as their piece.”

“So the thing meant to help level the imbalance of power has now created a disparity of it.” Teris surmised, wondering why Shouta had picked the scarf-like piece he had when he was of pure and ancient blood.

“There will always be an imbalance of power. That’s why the Council’s concern is as senseless as it is wrong. Our beastly ancestors and those of the demons who wrongly caved to the spirits and sprites for the sake of an easy peace were short-sighted. They willingly weakened themselves to make the truly weak feel stronger. This change that’s happened over the last two ages. A pure bloods ability to take a literal piece of their person and call upon their true forms power. It’s simply natures way of rectifying a false sense of equality that never should have been.”

Teris exhaled. She wasn’t sure she believed everything Kai said. It sounded more like opinion than fact. True or not, she certainly wasn’t happy with it. Hizashi was said to be a hybrid of spirit and sprite. The thought of anyone viewing him as less than simply because of what division of Fourth he was upset her. But there was something she did appreciate about Kai’s words and that was his lack of fear. Everyone else she had met spoke about the Council in a sort of anxious hush. But not Kai. Not only had the Dragon showed no apprehension when speaking about the Council; he had disagreed with them to the point of near disparaging.

Kai got to his feet. “Come.”

“What? Time for more reading?” Teris toyed.

“No. I’m going to show you my piece.”

Her breath hitched. She knew exactly what Kai meant, but his tone of voice and the way he looked at her made it feel as if he were referring to a much more personal and private piece of his person.

Kai’s hand extended. A curious thing considering he hated touching lesser Fourth's and avoided doing so at all costs. But his leg had been touching hers of the better part of an hour and he wanted more. He wanted to feel her warmth and skin, not experience it through the layers of their clothes.

Teris glanced at Kai’s offered hand, hesitant to take it.

Kai almost reached out and grabbed hers. He was both well acquainted and unaccustomed to being denied depending on the person and circumstance. His secret subjects obeyed without question. But he wanted more than blind obedience from her. He wanted acceptance. And so he held himself back and waited.

Finally, Teris placed her hand in his.

Kai’s fingers wrapped around her silken skin, reveling in her warm hold. He pulled her to her feet and turned.

Teris laughed when Kai rushed out of the room and down hall, tugging her along.

Kai chuckled with her. He couldn’t explain it but his was happy. Excited even. To share his world and thoughts with another. Someone intelligent and hungry to learn. His disappointment about her not being the dragon he first thought she was was long gone. She was still a beast of ancient pedigree. The power of her aura and ability to appear fully human, a clear sign that she was of pure blood. She was the first person he had met that was anywhere near worthy of being his mate. And though it was early days yet, as a Dragon that had just reached his prime, Kai’s mind couldn’t help but go there.

They entered his office and came to a halt.

Breathless, Teris smiled.

Kai looked her over, smiling in return. She was...beautiful. He normally would've been bothered by the mussed hair their dash had caused. A clear flaw that told of further weakness. But on her he found the imperfect disarray sheer perfection.

“Kai?”

He watched her lips move, heart beating faster. As wonderful as her sweet voice made his name sound he couldn’t help but think how much better it would be if whispered in heated need.

“My piece. Yes.” Kai’s thumb caressed her smooth, warm skin before reluctantly releasing her. His hand gripped her shoulder the other reaching behind her to close the door.

Even though she hadn’t seen another soul since Aizawa and Hari had left, the door to Kai’s office had remained open all morning. Having it closed felt strangely intimate. Making her feel all the more alone with him.

She leaned back slightly, his face extremely close. “I have to admit, the way you said it back there seemed a bit... suggestive. You are just going to show me the piece of you person… Right?”

Kai’s fingers slid from the door, his other hand slipping down her arm, the inside of his wrist grazing and scenting her. “That was the idea. But if you wish to see something more…”

She exhaled a half laugh.

His eyes darted over her face. It must’ve been the change of lighting because for a moment her nose appeared more pointed.

“I think we should stick to the piece of your person for now. We just met and I don’t know enough about the way of things here. I don’t want to see us accidentally courting or mated.”

Kai stepped back, shoving down his disappointment and cursing his instincts. Though interested, it was way too early to tell if she was truly worthy. To think that dragon, sphinx's, and griffons had a prime of six to eight hundred years and he had just begun his. If he didn’t find someone worthy of even just sleeping with soon…

“Agreed.” He turned and moved to his desk. “But just so you’re aware. Fourth's can’t accidentally be mated. Nor can they be forced into it. Mating is for life, and both parties have to be aware and willing to be bonded.” His back to her, Kai added. “As for relations before being mated… Let’s just say Fourth's are often quite unconstrained with sex.”

“Well that explains last night and this morning with Aizawa.” Teris muttered.

Kai nearly crushed the beak-like mask that was his piece. A raging jealousy a thousand times worse than this morning boiled to life. It shocked him. Teris had spoken true. They had just met. He wasn’t even certain she was worthy of bedding, let alone taking as a mate. So why the angry jealousy?

He cleared his throat, fingers fiddling with his mask. And kept his back to her, not trusting himself to effect a calm, disinterested expression. “What happened with Aizawa?”

Teris sighed, eyes rolling at the man in question. “Nothing. Last night was a mistake on my part. But it was his fault. He’s the one who left right away telling us to choose any rooms we wanted.”

“Rooms?” Kai echoed. Whatever it was had happened in one of their quarters?

“Don’t worry. It won’t be happening again. I’m pretty sure I chewed his ear and ass out enough to ensure that.”

Though he wanted to know every detail, it was enough to know that she had found whatever it was unwelcome enough to tell Aizawa as much. Still, it was an effort not to demand she explain. “If it continues. Tell me. I’ll take care of him.”

“I can take care of my self. Besides, rude and bothersome as he is, I don’t think Shouta means any harm.”

Kai battled down a snarl, lip twitching at her use of Aizawa’s given name. It intensified the urge he had to seek the Sphinx out and make sure Aizawa never got near her again.

“Are you gonna show me your piece?”

Are you going to tell me exactly what Aizawa did? Kai thought. It didn’t help that he already hated the Sphinx. That his mind was conjuring up images of Teris and Aizawa in--

“Kai?”

Kai turned around, mask in hand.

“That’s it?” Teris asked, taking in the tasteful ornate beauty of it.

Kai nodded. He couldn’t show her the full capabilities of his piece. Like Aizawa, he hadn’t been allowed to take something off his true form or even choose a clear, defined weapon as his piece. The mask was only suppose to allow him a limited portion of his fire and a literal shadow of his true form. But thanks to Joi, his piece could do so much more.

Kai smirked and held out a hand. “Let’s go outside. I’ll show you what it can do and maybe give you a peek of my true form.”

Teris shook her head in chuckling humor as once again there was a hinting suggestiveness in his tone and gold eyes.

Kai smile grew, happy that this time there was no hesitance when she took his hand.

3.5

Shouta stood in front of the large windows of his Ilca’s great room watching the sunset. Hizashi sat behind on a couch reading a book about High Elves and shouting out things he found of particular interest. Which apparently was everything given how often he shouted out.

Arms crossed, Shouta's fingers tapped against taut biceps. He had said he wanted Teris back an hour before sundown. Of course he hadn’t expected Kai to care and comply, but he had expected Teris to listen and obey. She was his. Damn it! She was part of his Ilca. Why did he keep on thinking of her as his? She wasn’t his. More over he didn’t want her. He had just met her and already found her a tiresome, arrogant, troubling woman.

It was because he was a couple years into his prime, he reasoned. The beast within him wanted to couple. To find a mate. And Teris being a griffon… She would make a perfect mate. Shouta shook his head. No. No, she wouldn’t.

How long had it been since he had sought Nemuri out for release? Four? Five months? His eyes narrowed counting. Six. It had been six months. As much as he hated to, it was clearly time to ask the favor again. His self release could only do so much. And now with a beautiful young Griffon in her own prime, that self release would do even less. At least Nemuri understood it for what it was and didn’t seek to make anything more of it. She was fine without kissing or intimacy, just letting him fuck till he was done, and leave with an awkwardly mumbled thanks.

The front door opened.

Shouta watched Teris enter in the windows reflection. She was smiling. Why was she smiling? She had nothing to smile about. She was late and had spent the day with Kai. Kai. Who was much more charming and smooth than he. Who was a handsome, powerful Dragon. A Dragon who was also in his prime and no doubt looking to couple and mate.

Shouta ground his teeth, swallowing the burning bile that rose in his throat at the thought. That’s when the smell reached him. He sniffed, forcing down a growl. Kai had marked her with his scent!

Shouta turned. “You’re late.”

“Excuse you?”

He stepped to her, the crisp, clean smell of linen and winter air assaulting his nostrils as he drew near. “I said I wanted you back before sundown.”

“What’s more important? Me learning or your stupid curfew?”

“You can sit here and read, just the same as Hizashi. Or is your learning capability somehow less than?”

“You’re less than.” Teris snapped.

Shouta arched an eyebrow.

Teris gritted her teeth and the lame comeback. She glared hating the Sphinx’s somehow stoic but smugly amused expression.

Sighing, Shouta tried to smooth things over. “I didn’t make the order to demean or upset you.”

“I doubt that.” Teris scoffed.

“I did it for good reason.”

“I’m sure you never think you’re wrong.”

Shouta's eyes hardened.

Hizashi looked between the two. Aizawa had been worried. It was why he had tried to distract him by engaging with interesting bits he read. Why didn’t the Sphinx just tell her?

Unable to stop himself, Shouta reached out. His heart clenched when Teris flinched. What did she think? That he was going to hurt her? Even if she wasn’t his—his Ilca, he was still a member of the Ilca. A protector of the people. She had nothing to fear of him.

His hand fell on her shoulder, heartened and hurt when she didn’t pull away but tensed. In his own weak attempt to scent and reclaim her, Shouta's fingers and inner wrist trailed down her arm. “You’re to return an hour before sundown. Don’t be late again.”

Teris bristled at his words even as her shoulders eased at the warm, soothing smell of earth and musk that made her feel protected and at home.

“Don’t stay up too late.” Shouta’s hand fell to his side, already missing the warmth of her.

Teris turned, mouth open to snap something snide but stopped. She watched Shouta exit the dorms, telling herself it wasn’t disappointment she felt when the door closed without a backwards glance from him.

So this fic will have a LOT more world building than my others. Please feel free to comment or send me an ask if you have any questions.

I write for my own enjoyment, but edit and post for yours. If you enjoyed reading this at all please comment and let me know. It’s the only thing that encourages me to keep editing and posting.

Thank you to those who have left hearts. And a special thank you to those who have left comments or re-blogged. They really mean a lot.

Special thank you to @inorganicone2230 who knows of my love for the mythic and encouraged me to start this fic without stressing about the other two I’ve got going. Your friendship means the world to me. And I can’t THANK YOU enough for reading the draft of this chapter and stopping me from deleting it.

#bnha #aizawa shouta #kai chisaki #hizashi yamada #oboro shirakumo #shouta aizawa #chisaki kai #yamada hizashi #shirakumo oboro #hari kurono #nemuri kayama #bnha nedzu #yandere #my hero academia #fandom zines #au #lost song

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